(R) A photo of Muhammad Ali and others by James Barnor.
(L) James Barnor
Ghana’s James Barnor Wins Sony World Photography Awards honour
Ghanaian photographer, James Barnor, has been named the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the 2027 Sony World Photography Awards.
The recognition forms part of the 20th edition of the prestigious international awards, which celebrate outstanding photographers and their contributions to the art of photography.
James Barnor, widely recognised as Ghana’s first photojournalist, documented the country’s journey to independence in 1957 and played a significant role in developing photography in Ghana.
Born in 1929, he began his career in 1950 as the Daily Graphic’s first staff photographer, capturing key moments in Ghana’s social and political history.
In 1953, he established his renowned Ever Young photography studio in Accra’s Jamestown, where he photographed people from different walks of life, including students, shop assistants, traffic officers, judges and political figures.
James Barnor moved to the United Kingdom in 1959 to deepen his photographic knowledge, studying at Medway College of Art in Kent. He subsequently worked at Colour Processing Laboratories and contributed to Drum magazine, where his portraits of Black models and celebrities featured on its covers and fashion pages.
He later returned to Ghana as a technical representative of Agfa-Gevaert and established the country’s first colour photography processing laboratory, helping to introduce colour photography to a wider audience.
As part of the recognition, more than 50 of his works will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from April 16 to May 3, 2027, as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition.
The retrospective will trace his photographic journey from Accra to London and back to Ghana, featuring photographic prints and archival materials from different stages of his career.
James Barnor, who currently lives in London, described the award as an honour, reflecting on how his photography career had taken him across continents.
“I was lucky to be born and brought up in a family of photographers, and I took full advantage of it to absorb as much as I could,” he said.
He added that he never imagined his work would take him so far when he opened his studio in Accra.
James Barnor will officially receive the award at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony in London on April 15, 2027, where the overall winners of the 2027 edition will also be announced.
He joins a distinguished list of previous recipients, including Martin Parr (2017), Graciela Iturbide (2021), Edward Burtynsky (2022), Sebastião Salgado (2024), Susan Meiselas (2025) and Joel Meyerowitz (2026).