Prince Gyasi

The Ghanaian visual storyteller's work continues to amaze and delight.

Ghana's Prince Gyasi Nyantakyi (29), who prefers to be called a visual artist rather than a photographer, is self-taught and painstakingly composes his works like a Renaissance painter. His photographs tell the story of his generation and the community around him, especially in his neighbourhood of Jamestown in Accra, and aim to redefine or reinvent the contemporary African imagination, far removed from stereotypical, westernised narratives. From his earliest photos, taken with an iPhone to break artistic conventions and challenge the elitism of his milieu, he has developed a personal and unique style, characterised by constructions in bright, contrasting blocks of colour, and a focus on the beauty of black bodies. His synesthetic work, associating colours with sensations to encourage immersion in his world, captivated Virgil Abloh and Olivier Rousteing (Balmain), with whom he has collaborated since 2022 and his photos feature in the collections of Jean Pigozzi and the Fondation Pinault. This year, following in the footsteps of artists like Helmut Newton and Patrick Demarchelier, he illustrated the 50th edition of the legendary Pirelli calendar with shots dedicated to his timeless models, from his mother to King Osei Tutu II.