Ohene Yaw Wusu, 2017

Maybe they couldn’t see the glow from his rings, or maybe as he began walking they couldn’t feel the ground shake, nonetheless take a seat and pay very close attention, a king approaches us in his rich garments, Ohene Yaw Wusu takes the throne, leading us into a world of creations inspired by Ghana and America a like, do not underestimate his gentle frown, the stories behind his hands, the places his eyes have seen, and the boundaries his feet have over stepped is among stories for another time, exercise patience as his arrival is awaited, Ohene nie! Hailing from the beautiful lands of Ghana, embracing every king before him and those yet to come, from the speechless beauty of his Kente garment, to his well sown Ohenema slippers, and his gentle but effective golden accessories, this is true royalty, a king on his throne, a image captured by the great Lawrence Agyei, not only for Ghana but for the world, for the universe, to be seen today, tomorrow, and centuries from now…

I present Ohene Yaw Wusu

The Colored Seats, 2017

Each color had it's own meaning, something like assigned seats but they were no apparent signs of such, it was always the same vibes though, people who were mourning or in a state of sorrow always sat in the black seat, the pink seat was always occupied by someone in place of peace and enjoyment, displaying nothing but smiles and laughs, but see the orange was a bit different though, we could never tell the emotion or vibes of the individual sitting in it, it's like they were just content, calm and in concentration of figuring out the growth needed to be instilled, but the green, oh the green, it was the seat that showed rejoice and elevation, when the battles approached them, almost defeating them, but they managed to find those hidden weapons God placed in their heart, not only fighting back, but overcoming it's wrath, the green chair was always occupied by those fighters, that never gave up and always won. 

The Church, 2017

A place of peace and calm, a place where we fall to our knees, crying out to God, a place where there is nothing but love shown for one another, despite our disagreements or differences, when we are all gathered here, we don't let the things of life worry us, giving it to the creator, believing that his plan is the greatest plan, though we may not understand or be able to interpret it, we have faith in his decisions, knees were given to pray, hands were given to be raised in praise, and eyes were given to be closed in prayer and opened in rejoice, The Church.. a place where we could find so many answers to so many questions, The Church.. has been there, will always be there, our permanent home, that takes no rent money. 

Winter Loving, 2017

This was a different kind of love, and before you say you always hear this, please oh please let me explain why, see they had this thing, a way of taking each battle that came as a lesson to be learned, a experience to be shared, and a chance to grow closer, like any relationship, they dealt with ups and downs, summer fights, and spring arguments,  but they had this type of loving in the winter, a love so warming that hot cocoa with marshmallows weren't needed, many couples enjoyed those long walks in the park during the summer, as the sun shined above them, but they rather enjoyed those walks in the snow, imprinting their feet each step they made, the cold air blew, but their hands kept them warm for one another, they ignored the pools of slush on the ground, rather engaged in conversation of laughter and smiles, nothing mattered around them, but each other, they learned if they cold love one another in the blistering cold, then the hot summer was nothing to worry about, that the rainy spring showers would be no match neither, keeping each other warm and dry, and that the chilly fall days wouldn't prevent them from enjoying time out, Winter loving.. what a loving.

Untitled, 2017

She made it extremely clear that she didn't need me, that I made her life more difficult than it had to be, she complained countless times about the things I did or didn't do, but see I never truly listened, when she cried at night, I pretended like I didn't hear it, when she would have serious conversations with me about our relationship and it's heaviness dragging her down, I simply told her she was overthinking and worrying about nothing, but deep down I knew it wasn't working, I knew we had out grown each other, that these were not the days of the past, the honeymoon stage when everything was cute and new, when we could laugh for hours, but now we could barely laugh for 5 minutes, we didn't hate the sight of one another, but our greetings were no more filled with love and care, and it was never her fault, I just didn't know her worth, I didn't love her as much as she deserved and most times needed, and I never faced the truths of my wrongs, so she walked away, without ever looking back, even our casual encounters were a bit awkward, but we held it together long enough for quick life updates, but within me I was hurting, I was in place of pain words couldn't merely describe, in all truth, many months too late, I realized my wrongs, I realized what I should've done, and of all... I realized she was my first true love.

Photography by Lawrence Agyei | Writing by KoPong Speaks