My colleague Steve (by the way he has a blog with beautiful photos) informed me my blog post from a few weeks back was a reference in the Wikipedia article on Dumsor!
Here is the evidence!
Blogs I Read: AntiRhytm
There is a blogger that quite stands out from all the rest in the Ghanaian blogosphere in two ways, tirelessly he posts like clockwork Monday through Friday (although a lil’bit less recently) and the subject matter is always snapshots of Ghanaian life carefully crafted in words. as you have already guessed, I love this blog!
Ghanaian poetry the way you have never seen it before, in seemingly impressionist style, he sketches the street or office life in Accra.
The blogger Nana Yaw Asiedu is also the originator of (now deleted) The Flirt Files, poetry blog about romantic office situations(!) and Makola Law, a helpline for legal questions in blog format.
This blogpost is part of a series of Blogs I Read.
Johanna Koljonen: Nordic Media Personality Blogs in English
As someone living abroad, I of course follow many blogs and tweeps for information on what is going on in my native Sweden. Social media is beyond popular in Sweden with fast and accessible broadband and smartphones in almost every pocket.
Sweden has more than 500 000 twitter users for a population of 9 million people (according to #meg13) and I read once that a third of Swedish women 18-30 have a blog!
Not surprisingly, most tweets, blogposts and articles are posted in Swedish and although I adore my mother tongue, it is disappointing to never get to share my Swedish feeds with my non-Swedish speaking crowds. Then today, I found Johanna Koljonen’s blog. And it is written in English!
Strictly speaking Koljonen is not Swedish, but Swedish-Finnish and from her blog I learned that she lives in Denmark and has a degree from Oxford. So let me not claim her for Sweden, but rather call her “Nordic”.
Still she is a central media personality in Sweden right now and apart from appreciating her style (girl next door meets thoughtfulness) and interests (literature, sex, popular culture), I really do love that I can share her with you!
Blogs I Read: Nana Kofi Acquah – Africaphotographer
In this series, I am recommending my favorite blogs. This week, I’d like to share with you Nana Kofi Acquah and his blog: Africaphotographer.
My friend and BloggingGhana member Nana Kofi calls himself a “storytelling photographer”, a description that is spot on. Maybe with the addition of “one of the best photographers in West Africa”. Nana Kofi is not your ordinary camera guy as he was an English major in university, worked as a writer and only later took up photography. This makes for an individual who’s aim is to tell a story, choice of medium is secondary. Many times this interestingly leads to extraordinarily beautiful frames, often with movement in them, full of humor, highlights that grab your attention, or in the studio shoots a quiet – almost meditation like – stillness much more than a “frozen moment”.
Personally, I appreciate that he is not the kind of photographer that lets his photos alone tell the story. Nana Kofi Acquah does not hesitate to complement his photos with words, expressive titles or even long essays! Many times these words add a distinct political dimension that assures the viewer of that a photo is not decoration. A photo is a story.
An example of such a photo essay is Nana Kofi Acquah’s recent post Africa Will Rise. Africa is Rising.
Blogs I Read: 3 Swedish Blog Entrepreneurs
Underbara Clara
Clara is THE blogger in Sweden. She is typically Swedish in that she loves nature and works with media. Some of her topics seem contradictory, but Underbara Clara ties them together in a “modern Swedish media mother”-kind of way.
Keywords: Feminist, recipes and fashion, sustainable living, children, countryside.
Elsa Billgren
If Underbara Clara represents Swedishness and everyday living in the countryside, Elsa Billgren blogging for Swedish Elle, is her opposite. Her life embodies glamour. It is high heels, restaurant brunches, downtown apartments and beautiful friends.
Keywords: Champagne, Oysters, Vintage shopping, Stockholm by night and red lipstick.
Onekligen
Lisa Bjärbo is an author, something-in-publishing, a vegetarian and a mother of two and her blog is about all of that. With humor!
Keywords: Children, books, freelance, whats-for-dinner, irony.
Photography plays an important role in the three blogs discussed above and serves as inspiration for us who reads their blogs religiously. These blogs are extremely popular in Sweden and these entrepreneurs makes a living off their blogs, either through adverts on the blog and/or the branding she creates for herself through her blog – with spinn-offs like books, magazine articles, radio shows, TV appearances etc.
Reading their well-written, beautiful and entrepreneurial blogs provide the best possible dream-away-kind-of-entertainment for this blogger in Ghana!