Gerald Annan-Forson, whose expansive body of work captured Ghana’s political upheavals, cultural rhythms, and the evolving life of Accra for more than three decades, is being remembered as one of the country’s most influential visual storytellers. He was 77.
Born on 12 May 1947 in London to Captain Thomas Annan-Forson of the British West African Frontier Force and Madam Constance Vivian Annan-Forson (née Dennison), Gerald spent his early childhood between the United Kingdom and Ghana. After the family resettled in Accra, he attended Ghana International School and later Achimota School, graduating in 1966.
That same year he left for California State University, Fresno, where he studied criminology. He later qualified as an international criminologist and worked as a surveillance photographer in the United States. Those experiences, layered onto the complexities of growing up as a mixed-race child in Ghana, shaped the lens through which he would later interpret people, place, and power.
Gerald returned to Ghana in the mid-1970s determined to pursue photography full-time. He bought a camera and began documenting a city in transition. By 1977 he had become a freelance photographer with work appearing in New Africa, African Business, West Africa, Essence, and several European and American publications. His images spanned portraits, state ceremonies, street life, and cultural festivals, all marked by a meticulous eye for both atmosphere and intimate detail.
He photographed every Ghanaian head of state from General Acheampong through President Akufo-Addo, as well as U.S. President Barack Obama and members of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and a young Prince Charles. His long association with Jerry John Rawlings, a schoolmate from Achimota, gave him rare access during the period of military rule. From the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council era through later democratic transitions, Gerald stood at the edges of power, often on call around the clock, bearing witness to some of the nation’s most consequential events.
His photographs revealed unexpected moments: soldiers in quiet contemplation, politicians between instructions, market women pausing mid-stride, and crowds caught in a fleeting expression of worry or joy. Over more than 30 years, he constructed a visual record that traced Ghana’s public life through sweeping national ceremonies and the subtle gestures of ordinary people.
A personal milestone came in 1999 when the British High Commission invited him to photograph Queen Elizabeth II during her official visit to Ghana. Friends recall that as a young man in London he often lingered outside Buckingham Palace imagining the day he might photograph the monarch. The assignment fulfilled a dream.
Interest in his archive has grown internationally. In 2022, the Sharjah Art Foundation and the Africa Institute exhibited a collection of his work exploring Ghana’s political and social transformation. In 2023, Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center curated another major show, underscoring the importance of his images to both Ghanaian history and global conversations about the African diaspora.
Despite a career spent chronicling public life, Gerald held his family close. He is survived by his wife, Hetty, and their four children. Relatives and friends remember his layered sense of humor, his loyalty to family traditions, and his commitment to showing up when it mattered.
Gerald Annan-Forson’s photographs endure as a textured, human portrait of a nation finding its way. His family now bids him farewell.
Gerald. Nyame mfa wo nsie.
