The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, H.E Virginia Palmer, has announced Mr. Stephen Ofori, a Communications Officer at the Climate Change Directorate – Forestry Commission (FC), as the winner of the U.S. Embassy’s “Capture the Change” photo contest.
As part of initiatives that forms part of the U.S. government’s commitment to partner with Ghana to tackle the climate crisis, the photo contest was launched by the U.S. Embassy to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change in Ghana, ahead of Earth Day 2023.
The Embassy sought photos taken this year, that demonstrate the impact of climate in Ghana, as well as Ghanaians’ innovative approaches to adapting to climate change.
The contest received more than 100 submissions from professional and amateur photographers. All submissions were pre-screened to ensure compliance with the rules of the contest. Fifteen photos were short-listed with the help of six judges, including celebrated Ghanaian photographer, Yaw Pare. The top 15 images were posted on social media to assist the panel of judges in determining the top five images, from which they selected the ultimate winners.
The photo Mr. Ofori submitted for the contest depicts a young child surrounded by the stark impacts of climate change, venting the frustrations of a generation, yet seemingly ready to take action.
He met the U.S. Ambassador, H.E. Virginia Palmer and other dignitaries at the U.S. Embassy in Accra for his award. He received a certificate, photography equipment, and a photo book.
Mr. Ofori is also a conceptual/documentary photographer and an art director. He portrays different perspectives in his visuals with compelling meaning. Last year, he was the first runner-up in the “Documentary of the Year” category of the AGORA global awards hosted in Spain.
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