Backstreet Accra
Taking this image on film really aided the effort to catch the rusty tones of this brightly lit street in Accra. This is difficult to do with a digital camera, but this was captured exactly the way that I wanted it to be – including every shadow and different tone possible. The image uses particularly warm tones, apt for the temperature in Accra, where it was taken. What would have been a grey city scene is overrun by the green of the tree leaves, the warm brown of the trunks and dry leaves, and the deep rusty colour of the piled laterite beginning to creep into the central third from the final third near the wall. Combined with the open space in the foreground and the patches of sunlight, the image seems to become somewhat inviting and nostalgic.
Here, there is overbearing direct sunlight that enters the frame from the top right corner, creating an evident contrast between the bright, slightly overexposed sky and the shadows created by the trees, cars and walls. The light that peaks through the gap in the wall in the final third adds depth to the image, drawing the eye down the street.
Furthermore, the parked cars form a leading line down the street to the centre of the frame and into the distance, making the viewer wondering where this road actually leads. The contrast, the tones and the impression of endlessness that the street gives all combine to convey the length and intensity of a West African day, where salvation can only be found in the shade provided by the nature that still survives among the concrete.