The Ghanaian photographer and filmmaker currently raising funds to establish a library and learning centre in Ghana, Paul Ninson, has been sharing his life story on the Breakfast Daily on Citi TV.
Paul became a sensation when his tragic life story was featured on the international photoblog, Humans of New York (HONY) earlier this month, September.
Mr. Ninson struggled to make ends meet on the streets of Ghana after trying to take care of his daughter whom he had with his girlfriend at the age of 20.
He subsequently taught himself photography but faced several stumbling blocks in his quest to have a breakthrough in life.
Life later smiled on him, when he met with the owner of Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton, at the University of Ghana, where he [Paul] had been hired to photograph an event.
Stanton helped Paul to be trained at the International Center of Photography in New York.
The new sensation had earlier received a half-scholarship from the International Center of Photography, but couldn’t afford the $20,000 part payment for the tuition.
He currently has over 30,000 books to stock his yet-to-be-built centre, which has so far generated over one million dollars in donations.
The Kumasi-born photographer explained on Breakfast Daily that he was motivated to venture into photography because of his love for documentaries and storytelling.
“Growing up, we didn’t have television and my dad allowed us to read a lot. Now, I read 50 books a year. Those things were embedded in me, and they helped me. I took photographs at weddings, events, and it wasn’t much fulfilling for me. So I wanted to do more. I wanted to be part of something to change something, i.e. to tell stories, which were important to our societies and people. So that led my path to documentary.”
In his early life, Ninson expressed interest in being an architect as he could “draw very well” but said, “that didn’t work out.”
“I wanted to be a visual artist and this is my path now; a photographer and filmmaker”, he added.
Click below to watch the full interview: