Cape Coast Ghana Travel Diary: Photographing from the Castle to the Fishing Boats
Cape Coast Ghana Travel Diary: Photographing from the Castle to the Fishing Boats
Diary
It took us four hours to get there on dusty, unpaved roads. I didn’t nap once because I was too excited to see what was happening outside the window. There were markets, local people running errands, kids playing with handmade toys. I had my Leica M11-P with a Summilux 35mm f/1.4 Pre-FLE set to f/5.6, shooting from my seat.
After settling my thoughts and slowing down from our last Jamestown experience, my photography mood really came back when we reached the less crowded Cape Coast Castle. I quickly switched to my film MP and loaded a roll of Kodak Ektachrome E100. The architecture is absolutely stunning, perfect for the Hologon 16mm to show off all the details. I read each sign about the magazines and the men’s dungeons, kept wondering how long everything had been there, and learned how slaves were kept underground. I went into the dungeons myself and it was heartbreaking to witness. My friend told me the floor is still the same and has never been fully cleaned.
We passed through the Door of Return, the main gate leading to the ocean. Later, when I looked back on the day, I googled old photos and saw how much the coastline has changed. It used to be much closer to the castle in vintage images. Now the shoreline has retreated around 500 meters. Maybe it is just the tide, maybe not.
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We met some local students who became our guides and walked with us up to the breakwater. That was the highlight of my trip. Standing there, overlooking the fishing boats and the endless ocean in front of us, with the castle behind me, the contrast felt huge. I loaded Kodak Ektar 100 and Kodak Portra 160. Most of the shots were on the Zeiss Biogon-C 35mm f/2.8 ZM because it gives me the fine detail I want, especially with a more expensive film like Ektar that has such refined sharpness and character. I followed my friend’s advice to shoot Ektar; he said it works better for darker skin tones, and I agree. Portra gives a slightly greener, more yellowish cast compared to Ektar.
Later, I switched to the Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH for better flare and tonal control, and it rendered the scenes beautifully. I kept wondering how the 50mm images would compare with the 35mm ones. I treated the place as a testing ground and played with different focal lengths.
Walking down from the breakwater onto the sand, I swapped to the Summilux 24mm f/1.4 ASPH and shot around f/5.6 to f/8 for close scenes. I composed using the outlines of the fishing boats and watched daily life unfold. Some people were repairing boats, others shaving wood, some playing in the water, and kids just standing and watching.
There was so much happening that I wanted to capture. I simply went with the flow and slowly wandered around. When locals looked at me, I smiled. They smiled back. It became a quiet exchange of greetings.
It was hot, around 33 to 34 °C, and I was sweating non-stop. The sea breeze didn’t help much. I only really noticed it when we walked back to the car and I realized how soaked my shirt was. The photography adrenaline hit me so hard that I forgot about the heat. My friend Reggie joked that he kept seeing me reloading film, and he was right. I shot five rolls in about an hour after leaving the castle and exploring this area.
If you look closely at the boats, every one of them is painted differently. They are built, repaired, and touched up by the locals, and the boats are part of their lives. I even saw little pigs running around between them.
Looking back, using 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm there gave me three very distinct looks. The 50mm gave me strong portraits, let me crop out distractions, and helped me highlight specific scenes. The 35mm worked as a classic environmental focal length, showing the wider context, fishermen tidying their nets, locals relaxing, and a bit of everything in one frame. With the 24mm, I loved getting in close so I could have both a portrait and the surrounding details in a wider perspective.
As we walked back to the car and passed through the castle gate again, I couldn’t stop thinking about how, in the past, walking down those steps to the beach would have been the last time many slaves ever stood on African soil. I am grateful I had the chance to visit this place, learn its history, and try to capture a fragment of its story.
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The backstory is horrendous. Thanks for telling it through your craft.
Tell me, did you protect your films from airport scanners or just carry in hand luggage?
Thanks for stopping by. When I was in Ghana, I asked for a hand check, so the film only went through the scanner once during my transfer at Istanbul Airport.
You can also check handcheckfilm.com to see whether hand checks are possible at the airports you’ll be passing through.