"As a visual artist, I think what I need to do is repaint Africa to the world by taking away the negativity out of the images and show the positive sides of Africa. Mostly, the negative aspects of Africa are the only sides that represents the continent and that's one of the reasons that inspired me to create beauty"
Taking a sledgehammer to the rules of fine-art photography, Gyasi invites his audience into a hyper-colorful universe influenced by his own experiences of the neurological phenomenon synesthesia, which causes him to associate colors with words – for Gyasi, Wednesdays are aquamarine. From afar, his striking photographic artworks can at first appear as paintings, a tongue-in-cheek rejection of internecine notions of photography’s secondary status within fine art.
Often utilizing the kids of Jamestown (A fishermen district of Accra where his mother grew up) his subjects, Gyasi challenges traditional beauty standards and showcases the elegance and energy of a new generation.
Gyasi is the founder of the nonprofit Boxed Kids, which provides a platform of education and creative outlets to the underprivileged children of Jamestown.
His work is included in some of the most prominent Contemporary art collections in the world, including Jean Pigozzi’s and the François Pinault Foundation (Palais de la Bourse, Paris). Recent exhibitions include a solo show at the 2022 edition of the Kyotographie photography festival in Kyoto, Japan, group shows at the Museo de Arte do Rio de Janeiro (2022), Brazil and the Pole of Contemporary Art of Cannes (2022). The artist has been a speaker at Oxford University and the 2019 Skoll World Forum and has notably collaborated with Apple, Converse, Balmain, Off-White, Vanity Fair, GQ US... In 2023, Prince was nominated as the first black photographer to shoot the prestigious and iconic Pirelli Calendar and was named Time’s Next Generation Leader. In 2024, alongside his friend Olivier Rousteing, he co-signed a fashion collection for Balmain directly inspired by his work.
Prince currently lives and works in Accra.