Mr Thomas Fynn, a prolific Ghanaian photographer and Executive Director, FYNNexhibits, has encouraged children and young people to utilise the internet to develop skills in photography.
He said the internet offered unlimited opportunities for learning photography and advised against spending their time unprofitably on social media.
“The youth should use the internet for good purposes. There are a lot of photography websites. When the youth visit these websites, there is a lot that they can learn,” he noted.
Mr Fynn, who gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, asked young people to take up online short courses offered on photography.
He added that there were online photography groups that the youth could join, saying, such groups had mentors that the youth could rely on for more practical guidance and coaching.
He, however, cautioned that such online groups could mislead them into irresponsible acts
You must make sure that the online group you want to join will teach photography so that you can gain more skills and insight.
“If you study the line of conversations of the group and you realise they will lead you astray, don’t join,” he said.
Mr Fynn said young people could build online portfolios for themselves by taking pictures and posting them on their social media pages.
“The youth should take pictures that tell meaningful stories– stories that shape or impact their community or society,” he stressed.
He said: “In photography, quality is more important than quantity. You should take as many pictures as you can, but always select the best ones and post them. And you can watermark your pictures to prevent others from stealing them.
Mr Fynn noted that, as young people share more of their pictures online, they would build connections with other photographers both in Ghana and abroad which, over time, would give them international exposure with several benefits, including travelling opportunities.
He advised that, when setting out in photography, young people should not focus too much on making money, because by focusing too much on money, they could get stuck along the way, which could make them give up.
“As a young person, if you want to go into photography, you should focus more on developing photography skills and making impact with the pictures you take. When you do that, over time, more doors will open for you.” Mr Fynn said.
