Olu, Muriel (my mother), Grandma Anniky, Ayo, Kobina | photo credit: Sawyer family archives.

It has been a crazy awesome and crazy challenging 2015. Reflecting on the June 3rd Accra Floods, the December 17th car robbery but in the same token appreciative of the World Economic Forum on Africa conference panelist opportunity in Cape Town, SA my feature in BBC and this newspaper clipping from the Ghana's Daily Graphic, Business edition:

Daily Graphic Business: Tuesday November 3rd-9th 2015 

Helps me appreciate all that has happened this past year even more. In spite of the struggles, challenges and difficulties there are bright spots, real bright spots that have helped deal with each obstacle and challenge. For that I am grateful. A wise person once shared with me that there isn't life without obstacles, and so as I turn thirty, I am contemplative and appreciative about all the victories (big or small) that help make this journey memorable. To all of you who have followed, and continue to follow this blog, thank you. There is more to come, especially as I explore content creation with evermore advanced mobile devices here and here.

If you haven't already, do follow @eagamor on Twitter as I resolve to live in the here and now and celebrate our individual and collective success as #MasterOfTheMoment

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#Deeper #‎IStandOnTheShouldersOfGiants‬ The cute youngest girl, Muriel Vanderpuye, will go on to be the wonderful woman who gives birth to me 30 years from this day. Grateful. ‪#‎SawyerInMe‬ ‪#‎QuarteyInMe‬ ‪#‎Mama‬ ‪#‎MosquitoClaps‬‪ ‪#‎GamorLegacy‬

It is astonishing how quickly kids around you grow up. If you are introspective, as I get sometimes, you'll look at your younger siblings, cousins...and look at the older family members and wonder if they are as tickled about your growth as you are of the younger ones.

My cousin, Queenie (named after her mother) celebrated her birthday and it was an opportunity to reconnect with family members I hadn't seen in about a decade. At her party I found out that her dad, my mother's older brother used to take pictures of my mom when they were younger. Decades later, here I am taking pictures of his daughter. Who said history doesn't repeat itself?
To youth, legacy and teenage birthdays!

Queenie

The group of friends who are "fresh"

Chop Time...no friend.

2nd generation of Benneh-Amoah

Queenies!

The birthday girl's mini photo shoot

50th Birthday Party & Graduation Celebration from itake photos est. 1985 on Vimeo.

Emma Adjetey - Doku celebrates her 50th Birthday and graduation party with family and friends in Woodbridge Virginia. Saturday September 15th, 2012. Photography by Emmanuel A. Gamor

The people who knew you when you were young, probably know you best. Covering this event for Aunty Emma Adjetey-Doku was doubly exciting because I was reminded that you could party with a lady in the prime of her life and with old friends from ICCM (my first church in VA) too. Azonto moves apparently have no age limit! Congrats to Aunty Emma on the milestone (the big 50!) and congrats on being a recent graduate as well! More vim!

It's a new year, and though the constellations may not have created something magic in the past week and a half or so, I went about and made my 2011 new year's resolution on twitter:

@itakephotos1985 2011 checklist: 1.grow as a photog 2.revamp portfolio 3.revamp logo/marketing brand 4. mt more ppl 5.have more fun behind camera #itakephotos

One of my good friends (I call her my partner-in-crime for all the grocery shopping runs we do together) ,Bunmi, celebrated her birthday on Christmas eve, and it was the first time I got to try-out my hand-me-down D90 (thanks Pops).



To New Beginnings!



Lest I forget, congrats to the birthday kid..well woman. To fresh new starts and the evolution of itake photos est. 1985