Dikan holds first graduation, exhibition

Ten photojournalists and storytellers have graduated from the Dikan Centre, a non-profit institution dedicated to educating the next generation of Africa's creative leaders. 

Some of the students were given the opportunity to exhibit their works at the inaugural ceremony which was held at the school’s premises last Saturday.

Nokor Nortey was awarded the outstanding student of the year while Reuben Ekow Quansah went home as the Dikan Community Service photojournalist of the year. 

Story

Founder and Executive Director of Dikan Centre, Paul Ninson, emphasised the importance of creating a society where people could use visuals to tell a story.

He urged the graduates to keep persevering until they achieved their targets, adding, “Nothing is impossible”.

Mr Ninson further advised the students to partner with the private sector to build their confidence in storytelling and photojournalism. 

He explained that the reason for admitting only 10 students for the photojournalism and documentary class was to ensure that the students’ needs were well attended to with a strong course concentration.

Sharing his future expectations, the Executive Director said, “I am hoping to build on the good works we have done here to be able to admit more people into the centre.”

“I am also looking forward to a system where my students will be great storytellers and good photojournalists in the next few years to come,” he said. 

Awardees

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Ms Nortey said her journey had been challenging but her strong desire for photojournalism kept her going.

Following her graduation, she intends to focus on telling stories about women and taking more pictures to empower more women.

Mr Quansah also shared his own challenges and offered words of encouragement to aspiring photojournalists.

“The beginning was very tough for me because I was fending for myself but I never gave up because of what I wanted”.

“Dikan has taught us how to be disciplined, how to think as photographers and how to be bold even though you might not have all the tools at your disposal,” he added.