The Key is Not to Blink

• Prize
• Photographer
  Ulrik Tofte, Denmark
• Studio
  Ulrik Tofte photography
• Website
  http://www.ulriktofte.com

The most important step to understanding Africa today is not to
blink. All over the continent, the middle-class is growing and
the societies are changing. In particular, there is an increasing
focus on the individual. This series tries to focus on the growing
individuality, where personal ambition, expectations and
dreams are now exceeding basic necessities. My work is set in
Ghana, a country that has not wholly changed, but where key
differences are evident. I chose to portray ordinary people who I
met on the street, focusing on moments where the individual
becomes clear. An absence, deeply lost within themselves and
maybe revealing something for us.

The cultural development of a middle-class in the West took
decades. In Ghana, the technological developments take place
in just a few years, while the culture and the people struggle to
adjust. What's at risk is a disappearance of local identity and the
unthinking adoption of foreign popular culture.

Awards Third Prize in the Single Image Category at the LensCulture Portrait Awards 2014