Daniel Attoumo Amichia

Daniel Attoumou Amicchia (1908–1994) was a Ghanaian photographer who settled in Grand-Bassam, Côte d'Ivoire.

Early life and career

Amicchia was introduced to photography in 1920s. In 1948, he settled in Grand-Bassam, Côte d'Ivoire, where he was active until 1970. In Grand-Bassam, he kept in contact with the English-speaking Ghanaian community in Côte d'Ivoire, whom he photographed extensively. He acted like a "travelling merchant" and produced photographs of families and businesses. Little is known about Amicchia's life and career, as he was largely undocumented and his family threw away his archives after his death.

Amicchia's partner, Joseph Ernest Kouao, however, kept and preserved the remnants of the photographer's archive. Revue Noire featured Amicchia's photographs in 1991. Since then, his photographs have appeared in many exhibitions in the west.

Daniel Attoumo Amichia yɛ Ghanani mfoninitwafoɔ. Bere a ɔne ne nuabarima suaa adwuma akyi no, wɔ 1948 mu no, otu kɔɔ Grand-Bassam baabi a ɔyɛɛ adwuma sɛ mfoninitwafo maa adwumakuw bi. Wɔde n’adwuma no akyerɛ wɔ kuw ɔyɛkyerɛ ahorow pii te sɛ Afrika Mfonini a ɛwɔ Haus der Kulturen der Welt a ɛwɔ Berlin wɔ afe 2000 mu ne, afe koro no ara mu no, wɔ Afrika a Afrikafo a wɔwɔ Tete Nneɛma Akorae a Ɛhwɛ Afrika Adwinni So wɔ New York . Ne wu akyi no n’abusua sɛee ne nnwinnade nyinaa ne ɛkame ayɛ sɛ ne nneɛma a wɔkora so nyinaa.

PHOTOGRAPHER

(Grand Bassam - Ivory Coast)

born in 1908 (Ghana) - died in 1994 (Grand Bassam -Ivory Coast)

Daniel Attoumou Amicchia is active in Grand Bassam from 1948 to 1970. Amicchia is initiated by his older brother to photography in the 1920s.

n 1948, he moved to Grand-Bassam, keeping close ties with the Anglophone community from Ghana, attached to the local English syndicate.

These English-speaking Ghanaians still keep facing the camera a very straight posture, hands on knees, feet flat on the ground, with their loincloth motifs which have special meaning (belonging to a family, a clan, a corporation) as seen in Amicchia photographs.

He enjoys photography as a 'street photographer' and photographs mostly family and various corporations of the Grand-Bassam society in natural light portraits.

After cancer, Daniel Attoumo Amicchia goes out of photography business. He died in Grand-Bassam at the age of 86.

His family threw all his photographs and equipment to the sea. A few prints survived by a collector, his former partner, Joseph Ernest Kouao, and other rare photographs preserved in family albums

Daniel Attoumo Amichia was born in Beyin, Gold Coast (now Ghana), in 1908. He was introduced to photography in his youth by his older brother. In 1948, he moved to Ivory Coast where he opened a studio in the town of Grand-Bassam. He worked as an itinerant photographer making family and group portraits with his subjects bathed in natural light. He also took individual portraits which then served as passport photos. Amichia gave up photography due to cancer and later died in 1994. After his death, his family – probably ignorant of the value of his work destroyed all his equipment and nearly his entire archive. Today, only a few photos remain and his work has been shown in several group exhibitions in Berlin, Paris, and New York.

Selected Group Exhibitions

Daniel Attoumou Amicchia is a Ghanaian artist. Hakanto Contemporary featured Daniel Attoumou Amicchia's work in the past.

Death

Amicchia died from cancer in 1994.