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On Monday, December 6, hundreds of commuters in Accra were left stranded following a nationwide strike by the Coalition of Commercial Transport Owners.
According to the drivers, government had failed to honour their demands, hence their decision to park their vehicles off the road.
As expected, the industrial action by the drivers posed a lot of inconvenience for citizens. Commuters who rely on public transport were forced to trek from their homes to their various places of work.
Students were also compelled to journey long distances on foot to their schools. In sum, it was a tiring morning for those who do not own vehicles.
The plight of some of these commuters were captured by the lenses of Multimedia’s David Andoh. In his shots, one could visibly see the depression, anger and despair on the faces of the fatigued commuters.
But amongst all the shots ‘Uncle David’ stole, one of them eventually stood out and became the viral photo of the day.
In that viral photo, a man is captured with a little school girl in hand, hurrying to take her to school. Believed to be the father of the girl, the man was taking brisk steps in the absence of a vehicle.
It is pertinent to indicate that, the picture became so viral that, some benevolent individuals reportedly volunteered to donate a car to the man to aid his movements.
But how did Multimedia’s David Andoh manage to capture that shot? …
According to David Andoh, when he had wind of the strike in the morning, he quickly packed his tools and headed for ‘Circle’ to monitor the development.
At Dansoman Junction, he overheard some passengers murmuring how some passengers had been stranded at Lapaz. Mr. Andoh said the rumour caught his attention: and as a result, he made a u-turn to Lapaz; picking a car from Darkuman junction.
But his journey to Lapaz was truncated, after a group of young men with clubs and sticks stopped the vehicle he had boarded. According to the irate young men, they would not allow any public transport to operate. They were very angry and insistent, and after a while, Mr. Andoh disembarked from the vehicle which was on its way to Lapaz.
Having gotten down, he joined the scores of commuters who were trekking to their various destinations. Soon, he arrived at the footbridge at Nyamekye junction.
While there, he saw hundreds of frustrated faces moving to and fro. While some were making their way to Lapaz from Kwashieman, others were moving in the opposite direction.
As a photo journalist, Mr. Andoh indicated that the movements arrested his interest, thus he decided to start taking shots. This was around the Kata Hotel.
But this did not go down well with an onlooker, who queried Mr. Andoh for taking the pictures without the permission of the already frustrated. In no time, a crowd of angry protestors were forming to confront Mr. Andoh.
Sensing the impending danger, he moved towards the footbridge and climbed his way up to avoid them. But his unplanned presence on the footbridge become the source of the viral photo on the day. Standing on the bridge, Mr. Andoh recounted that his eyes suddenly caught the man who was holding a little girl in his hands.
The scene, according to Mr. Andoh was captivating; and a such he made frantic efforts to capture the man. But due to his location, he struggled to get a clear view. Despite the impediment, Mr. Andoh said he still managed to take about four shots which all came out blare.
Unperturbed by the circumstance, he kept on focusing his lens on the man until he got his desired shot. Although his targeted shot wasn’t perfectly clear, the veteran photo journalist said it was enough to tell the story.
The photo then went viral, with hundreds of Ghanaians sharing it across all the various social media platforms. The iconic photo gained so much popularity that some sympathetic persons decided to compensate the man for his determination on the day.
But according to Mr. Andoh, he wanted to take more shots of the man and the school girl; only that the ‘mob’ he encountered earlier were still around, hence he didn’t want to risk his life. Meanwhile, the picture still made the desired impact; and for Mr. Andoh, he feels gratified.
Protecting the lives of photo journalists
Despite the plaudits that accompanied his work on the day, the award-winning photo journalist has expressed concerns about the uncivilised reactions of some citizens towards photo journalists in particular.
Citing his near-mob attack around the Kata Hotel, ‘Uncle Dave’, as he’s affectionately called said, it is wrong for citizens to harass and heckle photo journalists during the discharge of their professional duties.
He therefore urged all persons to collaborate with the press in helping build a healthier, stronger and more prosperous society.
Mr. Andoh also wants a nationwide education to sensitize citizens on the need to collaborate with photo journalists in helping address the ills in society.
Source: myJoy
