Working everyday except Tuesdays the fisherman from the seaside towns of Prampram, Cape Coast, and Ada, Ghana, head out to sea where they fish up to 40 kilometers offshore. For generations families of these communities have fished the Atlantic Ocean. What they catch will determine the livelihood of the community and their families. During the summer months of 2021 I photographed the story of these local communities of fisherman.

Rising before dawn to push their canoes into the ocean while battling with the shore break, and after a pause for prayer; the long workday begins.

Working hand to mouth, the fish are taken from the boats in baskets by family members and prepared for frying in oil for dinner. On land the selling, cleaning, and cooking of the freshly caught fish is a lively affair.

However, often there are barely any fish to show for a day’s work and nets come back full of plastic debris. Combined with overfishing by fleets from China and Europe there is a depleted supply of fish and a food chain that is out of balance.

Millions of dollars per year are reported to be taken from the Ghana economy from foreign countries. Because of this the government of Ghana has implemented an annual one-month fishing ban on local fisherman in an effort to restore the fish population along the coast.

Many do not know how they will make a living for the length of this ban, and fish illegally risking fines in-order-to feed themselves.

With supplies of fish dwindling and altering the ecosystem, these communities have little to fall back on, and the future of the Ghanaian fishing occupation is in danger of being inundated.

>> Click here to watch the Food Chain project video.

Jurors have multiple responsibilities when they are jurying artwork for awards or inclusion in any number of exhibition or project opportunities. Jurors have a responsibility to the artwork they are reviewing, equally to the submitting artists, although unnamed, to the organization they are working with, and, most importantly, to their own ethics and standards. Jurying should always be undertaken ethically and in an unbiased manner.

It is always an honor to work with CENTER; the staff is meticulous, fair, and equitable in their open calls for submissions, in their organizational efforts in preparing the artwork to be reviewed, as well as their follow-up with submitting artists and jurors alike.

In reviewing the submissions for the Multimedia Storytelling Award in 2022, I was faced with the daunting task of selecting only one winner. The majority of the artwork submitted was professional and culturally engaged. How to decide between images that tugged at my last heartstring in a Post (?) Pandemic world on the verge of WWIII or those looking to improve the lives of those of us left on the planet wearing gas masks? Ultimately, I chose hope and the belief in the goodness of mankind towards each other, toward the planet, and seeking the improvement of our global communities.

- Mary Anne Redding, Curator, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Appalachian State University