Creative Projects
Adjabeng; Black, young love and Resilience
I was excited to write and co-direct “AfroRomance” for Adjabeng, a Ghanaian minimalist unisex fashion brand because it challenged the fashion gender norms in Ghana. It’s a bold choice for a brand in a culture that is dominated by huge gender and cultural norms. They blurred the traditional gender norms of what is appropriate for a man or a woman. I was also particularly excited that its young Ghanaian owner wanted to document “young Ghanaian love”. As a young Ghanaian woman, and a public health researcher, I am very aware of the fear-based reproductive health approach of education and jumped at the opportunity to document a young couple, expressing themselves and their love in their bold confident choice of clothing, daily activities and nature. I always love to tell other Ghanaian stories that show us living, creating, thriving.
Some of my most recent works have focused on documenting phasing out Ghanaian cultures, challenging common gender norms in the Ghanaian fashion space through photography.
I have also written production outlines, narration and scripts and co-directed fashion films that celebrate young black love. And I have creative directed music videos showing Ghana through the lens of young people living, creating whiles navigating life. Find links to some of these works below on my Behance page.
Short Stories
I am an avid storyteller and the author. My writings although fiction highlight the African context social justice issues perpetuated through social norms and cultures and systemic inequities are influenced by the experiences of life through my eyes and the eyes of others. You can read my published chapter, Where I Set My Anvil in the 2022 Anthology Finding the Way https://www.amazon.com/author/rachellawerh.
I am also the winner of the 2016 Short Stories award in the Ghana Writer Awards competition. My submitted story “Give them My Other Leg” documents a woman’s journey with guilt and betrayal when she transitioned into higher socio-economic group that required her to abandon her humble beginnings. You can find some stories here https://t.co/AFpyMjqyEd. I am particularly proud of this story because it was my very first attempt at putting my work out to be “judged” by an audience who were not my friends. https://cutt.ly/PK8eTmY
