2021 Arts Award: Nana Kusi Minkah
by Katy Gilmore ‘24
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Nana Kusi Minkah ‘22
Major: Finance
Minor: Studio Art
Tell me a bit about yourself!
Definitely! My name is Nana Kusi Minkah. I was born and raised in Ghana. When I was eight, I moved to the United States. Right now I’m a finance major with a studio arts minor. My interest in the arts started in highschool. I bought a camera to start taking prom pictures, just get-together photos and stuff like that. Really when I first got it I was just kind of exploring and having fun taking photos. Over time I’ve learned to love it both as a personal business and as a way to give myself a voice. I don’t like to speak a lot, but through my photos I’m able to speak a lot of the stuff that I don’t say out loud. That’s really what the arts are for me. My main form of art is photography. Specifically, my photos are about expressing signs of Black joy.
I like putting Black people in places that I haven’t seen growing up and trying to depict how I would want them to be shown in those scenarios.
Photo taken by Kusi Minkah
How have you been involved with photography at BC? Is there one meaningful experience that really sticks out to you?
I think that specifically with the art department this semester I had a lot of meaningful experiences like with Signs of Solidarity. It was an environment where we invited all students (even outside of the art program) to come and help make signs to address the incidents on the MLE floor. That was a really impactful event.
As far as my involvement, as a finance major I think there’s a lot of difficulty with Black people in the corporate environment. So, I did a photoshoot called “Corporate Finesse.” It featured two Black men, and it really showed their Black identity while also talking about the struggles of being a person in finance and a person of color.
Photo taken by Kusi Minkah
What inspires your photography? What gets you excited to create?
A lot of my ideas come from students and the experiences I hear about. For the “Corporate Finesse” series, I had heard so many Black men and women in CSOM talk about the difficulties of balancing their Black identity and fitting into a space that is not often representative of their identity. I always think about how I can represent that in media or photos. That problem-solving is really important to me. If there’s a story of a Black experience that’s not often told visually, I think about how I can do that.
I’ve also been influenced by the stigma against Black women in media. They’re often over-sexualized. I try to think about how I can shoot Black women in a way so that isn’t the case, but they still feel empowered. I try to think about these narratives and about what society is versus what it could be.
One of my biggest inspirations is Tyler Mitchell who is another Black photographer. His ideas are about Black joy. He shoots Black people in very happy environments, very blissful places. He shows what it could be and uses that as a conversation to talk about what it really is. In my photography I try to shoot this hypothetical utopia where everything is perfect, so we can start talking about what the reality is and how we can get to that utopia.
Speaking of inspirations, do you have any mentors or role models in photography you’d like to talk about?
I like to say that I’m not one type of photographer. I definitely pull from all different people. One person that I definitely love is another Ghanian man and Boston photographer named Emmanuel Boakye-Appiah. His nickname on Instagram is @kwameblue. I take a lot of stylistic inspiration from him. He works a lot with Black clients and the idea of “chocolate melanin,” which is about empowering Black skin in all its beauty.
Photo taken by Kusi Minkah
How has the pandemic impacted your photography?
I think the pandemic has actually allowed me to better understand how I can better be of service through photography. One thing I noticed when everything first went online was that there was a lot of struggle in the Black community for businesses. They didn’t have as much money to shift all of their services to online media. One thing I try to do with my photography is that I try to be a bridge for Black creators and entrepreneurs that don’t have that money necessary to pay for big advertising campaigns. Because many Black businesses didn’t have that allocation for funding, I’ve been trying to reach out to them and help them during these tough times. Covid really helped me to realize how I could serve people in my community, and that’s brought a little bit more joy to what I do. I like to make an impact.
What are your goals for photography in the future?
I’ve kind of drifted away from the finance route of things, and I’m more strictly focusing on film and photography this summer. I want to find how I could turn this into a personal business and help communities of color to create content. I’d really like to make that a career because I’ve fallen in love with photography and creating in general. This summer I’m really gonna dive in with my own personal internship and see how I can expand photography to make my personal brand bigger.
Photo taken by Kusi Minkah
Do you have any advice for other students involved in or wanting to get more involved in photography at BC?
I think the biggest thing is to not be scared to pick up a class outside of what you’re used to. If you’re in the studio arts department, I’d really encourage you to try every class. I started with digital art thinking I solely wanted to stick to photoshop. Then I took a photography class, and that drove me to continue to create. When I’m in a room full of creatives, I’m always inspired and picking up new things.
Try it all, and once you find your groove, keep creating.
