Ever Young
The Photography of James Barnor

It's been more than a decade since we introduced James Barnor's remarkable photographs to the (art)world at large with his first comprehensive solo exhibition at Autograph's gallery in 2010.  We are releasing signed hardcover copies of our popular monograph co-published with éditions Clémentine de la Féronnière, James Barnor: Ever Young, with a choice of two limited edition silver gelatin prints also signed by the artist — a rare opportunity to own a Barnor print, while supporting the artist and Autograph's arts and learning programmes.

To celebrate, we're sharing some of the iconic photographs from the book here. Born in 1929 in Accra, Barnor is today considered a pioneer of Ghanaian contemporary photography, with a career that spans six decades and covers a remarkable period in history, bridging continents and photographic genres to create transatlantic narratives marked by his passionate interest in people and cultures. 

Through street and studio portraiture, Barnor’s photographs represent societies in transition: Ghana moving towards its independence and London becoming a cosmopolitan, multicultural metropolis during the ‘swinging sixties’.

“Whether in Ghana or England, Barnor documented cultures in transformation, new identities coming into being - the fragmented experience of modernity and diaspora, the shaping of cosmopolitan societies and selves, and the changing representation of blackness, desire and beauty across time and space. ”

— Renée Mussai, Curator / Editor

A trained studio photographer and photojournalist, Barnor photographed friends and family as well as fashion models and celebrities, who would pose for him against the backdrop of the city’s most iconic monuments — often commissioned by Drum magazine, South Africa’s influential anti-apartheid journal for lifestyle and politics — before returning to Accra in 1969. He is now widely recognised as a major figure in contemporary African photography and celebrated globally.