Unarmed Inna Ghana

In March I traveled to Ghana – my first trip to sub-Saharan Africa – for an artist residency at the Kokrobitey Institute, a lush campus in a tucked-away surf town outside of Accra. My goal for the trip – in addition to mentoring creatives at the Institute – was to do an editorial-style photo shoot of the Unarmed jersey using Ghanaian models, even better if we could get some actual ballplayers. Mission accomplished.

Photographer Morris Frimpong, our assistant Abdul-Wasiu Ayariga, and I hit several neighborhoods in the capital of Accra and cast models on the street. The bustle of the city, its relentless thrust forward is what bubbles under the surface of the images. And even though they're still photos, each model feels like they have something to say. View the full editorial here.

Here's an image from my lecture at Kokrobitey:

This shoot is also significant for us because it's the first time we've presented an Unarmed jersey in garment form outside of an art gallery. It took a lot of work over many months during the pandemic to create the jersey, a process led by collaborator Rick Gonzalez of Agent X and Clark Chen our manufacturing partner at Shirts and Skins. But it never felt right photographing someone wearing the jersey until now, a couple years later. Seeing a Trayvon Martin jersey worn by young Africans is one of the proudest things I've done in my career.