Provision 1, photography
-Clara, we'd love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today, both personally and as an artist.
My journey into photography was quite gradual - I started making pictures as a teenager, capturing anything and everything, experimenting, and discovering this new art form. Never did I think this could be a career, so I went to university to study International Development, Middle Eastern and Humanitarian studies. I now see my degrees as the theoretical and contextual foundation for the stories I'm passionate about communicating through photography, so my path now makes a lot of sense to me, even if I did feel "lost" and unsure about my future a lot of the way. I've always been drawn to helping people around me, probably influenced by both my parents' careers at the UN, and I slowly began to see the power that image making and storytelling have in highlighting the voices and stories of underrepresented communities. It's been a real privilege for me to be offered people's trust in sharing their stories and I hope I can continue on this path for as long as possible.
Provision 3, photography
-Thank you for sharing such an impactful series. How have Ghana's anti-LGBTQ+ laws changed your role as an artist and advocate? Do you feel a stronger responsibility to address these issues in your art?
Thank you for recognising my series! This portrait series shot in Ghana was really the first project where I stepped out of my own community, to document another who continues to need as much support as possible. My first series, The Hair Portraits, documented people's relationships with their Black Hair, a story that was quite personal and reflected my experience as a black woman with afro hair. I've always been an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, so when I first heard about the introduction of a discriminatory bill threatening the lives and freedoms of Ghana's LGBTQ+ community in 2021, it really touched me and I began following the evolution of this bill, the international dialogue, as well as local sentiments in Ghana. In April 2022, I finally had an opportunity to visit Ghana for the first time, originally planning to meet and chat with members of the community there, not even knowing if I would create a photo series yet. I really just wanted to connect and offer my support where I could. What was meant to be a one month trip turned into four, and I'm to this day incredibly grateful to all the inspiring and brave folks who decided to take part in this series, they are truly friendships I've made for life, and I now feel an even stronger urge to shed light on the blatant disregard of human rights happening in Ghana and beyond, having heard and witnessed first hard the hardships they've faced for many years now.
Provision 17, photography
-Can you elaborate on your technique of overlapping photo and text to make sure your subjects' voices are heard?
I wouldn't really call this a "technique", as the form of text changes from project to project, but I've always been drawn to photo stories that included text in some way, shape or form, inspired by the works of Jim Goldberg or Bieke Depoorter for example, who are able to not only visually capture scenes, portraits and emotions so strikingly, but have also shown me that including text offers a way into a deeper collaboration with subjects, which is something I always hope for in all my interactions. In my first series, The Hair Portraits, I simply chatted with my subjects as I was photographing them, and shared their personal quotes alongside their portraits. On the other hand, as my project documenting Ghana's LGBTQ+ community has evolved, I needed to respect my subjects' requests for anonymity, and this included no longer sharing their personal thoughts, feelings, words, that they had so kindly shared with me back in 2022. I decided to overlay their portraits with text from the proposed bill itself, which in some way represents the repressive nature of this bill, that so many are now having to hide behind.
Provision 2, photography
-What were some of the challenges and rewards of working on such a sensitive and personal subject?
The main challenge, especially when working on this story in Ghana, has been ensuring the safety of my subjects. Ghana's LGBTQ+ community faces systematic verbal and physical abuse, with no protection from law enforcement, so I was hyper-aware from the start that anonymity might have to come into play at some point. While all my subjects started this collaboration by wanting to share their authentic, unapologetic selves through their portraits, this changed almost immediately after the bill passed in parliament in early 2024. All have now requested that their portraits be taken down from all platforms and exhibitions, to ensure their safety, which of course I've completely understood and respected. The rewards presented themselves in the form of beautiful, deep and genuine friendships with everyone I photographed in the last 2 years. I honestly feel so much gratitude to everyone who opened their hearts and stories to me from our very first meeting, to today. I feel an immense sense of privilege to be able to use my skills to emphasize these powerful and important voices, and I hope that my series continues to play a role in challenging oppressive opinions, and encourages conversations surrounding human rights, advocacy and compassion.
Provision 10, photography
-What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My Instagram @clarawattt and my website www.claratakesphotos.com are the best places for people to follow along on my journey as a photographer. I'm always open to collaborate, share, and learn from others so feel free to reach out if you'd like to connect. And thank you to Art Fluent for this opportunity to share a little bit about my work and practice, I really appreciate the support!
Statement
This project documents the passing of an anti-LGBTQ+ bill in Ghana using portraits and collage to show the contrast between expression and repression. It aims to bring global attention to these human rights violations, advocating for social change and protections for the LGBTQ+ communities in Ghana and beyond.
February 2021: Accra’s first LGBTQIA+ community space opens. Two weeks later, it is raided and forcibly closed down by local law enforcement. These events represent years of institutionalised homophobia, anti-LGBTQ+ and religion-based rhetoric. Culminating in ‘The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values’, a private members bill that aims to establish a system of state-sponsored discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ persons and their allies. In February 2024, Ghana voted in favour of the bill. Once passed, LGBTQ+ activities and allyship will become a criminal offense, punishable by prison terms of 3-5 years.
My initial project in 2022 aimed to show proud portraits of Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community. Despite facing a bill that denied their human rights, all my subjects chose to show their faces and share their names (the original photo titles). The unaltered portraits was exhibited in Germany, Paris, and across the Netherlands. Once the bill had passed, I realised this exposure was now dangerous. All my subjects asked that their photos be taken down in fear of persecution and prosecution.
Provision 14.1.(e), photography
This project has now taken on a new form. A second chapter in this evolving story. From portraits that originally aimed to give visibility to the courage and strength of the community, these faces and the people behind them have become ghost-like figures, hidden behind a bill that denies and criminalises their existence as Ghanaians, Africans, and human beings (the photo titles have also changed from the subject’s name to a “Provision number” within the proposed bill to hide their identity). It is my responsibility to respect their wishes for anonymity while at the same time keeping their presence and impact very much alive. The development of the series shows the reality for Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community; the repression of their identities, desires, and futures.
They may be in hiding, for now. But the LGBTQ+ community in Ghana and beyond remains powerful, united, creative, and hopeful for a future where they can live a life without fear, and to one day reemerge from the shadows imposed on them by this draconian bill.
Bio
Provision 11.4, photography
Clara Watt is a Senegalese-Canadian photographer, whose work explores identity, culture and social justice stories including racial, gender and women's empowerment. Using both analog and digital photography, she strives to bridge the gap between fine art, social documentary, and advocacy, creating visual narratives to explore the multifaceted human experience. Through a portrait-centric approach, Clara's work is inspired by the intimate relationships fostered with her subjects, often overlapping photo and text to ensure her subjects’ voice and agency over their stories remains present.
Clara's work has been published in various publications, including the New York Times, Le Monde, Business Insider, HuffPost & Suitcase Magazine. She was selected as Runner Up in the 2021 Julia Margaret Cameron Award, and as the recipient of Black Women Photographers x Nikon's inaugural Project Grant, to fund a personal portrait series exploring sexual assault and harassment against women. Her work was shortlisted for the OD Photo Prize 2022, and was a finalist in the 2023 Felix Schoeller Award. She exhibited a portrait series documenting Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community as part of the Pride Photo Award, traveling across the Netherlands until February 2024 and exhibited at Photo Saint Germain 2023.