W’ahu’s intimate portrait of Accra
A magazine made to showcase the energy and creativity in Accra’s alternative scene, W’ahu is immediately distinctive. This first issue was made alongside local collective Drama Queens, who served as contributing editors, and there’s a genuine sense of community and collaboration on the pages – the feeling that something real and exciting is being captured and preserved in ink on paper.
But even more than that, I was struck by the creative decisions that help to make the magazine stand out from the crowd. Take the cover, for example, which features a lovely portrait by photographer Joseph Abbey-Mensah and stylist Mahmoud Brimah, but which is covered by a plain sheet. The resulting overlay does a good job of framing the W’ahu logo, but totally obscures the portrait and cover lines.
Similarly, the layout of the magazine means the editor’s letter doesn’t appear until page 23, the contributors are listed on page 56, and the masthead comes on page 59. It’s idiosyncratic and counterintuitive, but it fits perfectly with the mission of representing a group of outsiders who don’t want to play by the normal rules. I really enjoyed this fresh new voice from Ghana, and I hope the video above gives a sense of its countercultural energy and innovative approach.
