Togolese German Fashion photographer Delali Ayivi has made a name for herself with some high-profile shoots, including photographing Aminata Touré, Germany’s first Black minister, for the cover of Vogue Germany last year.

But her rapid success since starting professionally in 2019 shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise: after all, photography is in her blood.

Ayivi says that the Ewe people, one of Togo’s largest ethnic groups, have many beliefs about rebirth and certain personalities coming back through future generations. Her own curiosity, creativity and interest in photography echo that of her great-great-grandfather, Alex Agbaglo Acolatse – one of the first Togolese photographers.

Acolatse was born in 1880 to an affluent family and produced work that spanned nearly 50 years. From classical studio portraits of wealthy Togolese to documentary work covering captured territories, his lens gave a glimpse of what Togo was like during the German, French and British colonial periods.

In 1884, the area that is now Togo became part of the Togoland German protectorate. Lomé was laid out as a modern capital with three railways, and although the German occupation could be brutal, and used forced labor, some Ewe were recruited into what Germany called a “Musterkolonie” (model colony).

During Togo’s colonial periods, Acolatse began creating a series of postcards and taking poised studio portraits of Lomé bourgeoisie with their status shown through fashion.

Acolatse retired in the mid 1950s, a few years before Togo’s independence in 1960. He died in 1975, at 95 years old. Ayivi says what struck her most when she first saw Acolatse’s studio portraiture was what it represented – a sense of Togolese pride.

“It was for me, the first time I saw Togolese people photographed through a Togolese gaze,” she said. “The gaze that didn’t feel like it was exoticizing Togolese people.”

Her great-great-grandfather remains one of Ayivi’s biggest influences, despite them coming from completely different contexts. Ayivi was born in the US but grew up in Germany, and at the age of 15 moved to Lilongwe in Malawi before transferring to the UK to enrol at the University of the Arts London. Acolatse’s work inspired her to focus on fashion, particularly the social messages it can communicate.

For her, Acolatse’s photography challenges stereotypes of the African continent. “I’m really generalizing here, but it’s often a foreign gaze that serves a certain agenda that justifies developmental aid and all of these things,” she said. “Seeing imagery that didn’t serve this purpose at such an early stage was what inspired me.

“The intent that came behind that (Acolatse’s studio photography), it’s still a guiding principle for me today,” she added.

One of Ayivi’s favorite images of Acolatse’s is a self-portrait set against a romantic background. She argues that it is “Westernized” because of the pressures of colonial rule.

“You could see that style back in the days,” she said about Togo in the early 1900s. “The more assimilated you are, the more respected or the more serious a human you are. But there was still a sense of pride that I found very inspiring.”

Changing the lens

What Ayivi communicates in her own work is a sense of optimism and joy, even when exploring heavier subjects.

One of her favorite images that she has produced is “The Joy of it All,” which captures a group of people jumping at Lomé beach. “I’ve come to really love this image, it was a genuine moment of joy,” she said of the piece.

In 2019, Ayivi created a project called Togo Yeye in collaboration with her friend Malaika Nabilah – their aim to lift Togolese talent both at home and in the diaspora and improve Togolese representation in the creative industries. As a creative duo they’ve worked with brands like Levi’s and had their work shown on the PhotoVogue platform.

Ayivi now splits her time between New York and London, and she admits that this year she’s had the urge to step back so she can explore, experiment, and find herself again creatively.

“This industry is very fast-paced, especially in fashion, so you want to be sure that you don’t burnout quickly.”

But last month, alongside creative partner Nabilah, she was shooting in Togo again for a PhotoVogue project creating works inspired by the concept of beauty.

“For now, I’m really excited to create work in Togo again so that’s what brings me the most joy and I always find the most fulfilling,” she said.

Acolatse’s career spanned nearly 50 years. He retired in the mid 1950s, a few years before Togo’s independence in 1960, and died aged 95 in 1975. This image shows the fashions worn in the early 19th century by the Togolese elite. “It was for me, the first time I saw Togolese people photographed through a Togolese gaze,” Ayivi said of his work.

There is one photograph that Peter Fetterman credits with starting his love of photography.

“When I was 15, I came across this book called ‘A Vanished World,’ and there was something about the book that totally obsessed me,” said the curator and gallerist.

The book, by author and photographer Roman Vishniac, is a pictorial history of Jewish life in Germany in the years that lead up to World War II. One photograph in particular haunted Fetterman, titled “Sara, the Only Flowers of Her Youth.” The image, taken in Poland in 1939, is of a young girl looking tiny in a large bed with wide eyes. Behind her are hand-painted flowers on the wall.

“This kid has never been outside this room, and her father painted pictures of flowers on the wall because he wanted to give her some sense of hope that they might survive,” said Fetterman.

The photo captivated Fetterman so much that five years later on his first trip to New York he looked up Vishniac in the Yellow Pages and paid him a visit at his home.

Curator Peter Fetterman stands with his collection of photographs at “The Power of Photography” exhibit at the Bower’s Museum.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“This image was the first image that turned me on to the power of photography,” said Fetterman, “and I look at it everyday.”

Photography lovers have the opportunity to look at it too, at the Bowers Museum’s exhibition ‘The Power of Photography,’ organized by Photographic Traveling Exhibitions, curated by Fetterman and made possible by support from the Ronald C. and Kristine Pietersma Family Trust.

Fetterman has spent the last 40 years championing the photographic arts, running a leading fine art photography gallery and collecting some of the most moving photographs the world has seen.

“The Afghan Girl,” by Steve McCurry, for example, is one such photo in his collection on view at the show that is as famous as it is compelling. The portrait of Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula appeared on the 1985 cover of National Geographic. There are many photos of historical figures: a pensive portrait of Malcolm X, a coy shot of Audrey Hepburn and a stunning photo of Abraham Lincoln from 1890 by Alexander Hesler. There are also photos in the collection that depict ordinary people at historic moments in time, like Life Magazine photographer Carl Mydans’ “On the 6.25 from Grand Central to Stamford,” taken on Nov. 22, 1963, as all the commuters read newspapers with headlines on the assassination of JFK.

Guests view photographs at “The Power of Photography” at the Bower’s Museum.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Not all images are so heavy, however. There is humor in the show as well, Fetterman assured, with images of fashion photography, rock stars and even pets. Thurston Hopkins’ “La Dolce Vita,” for example, is whimsical, and as Fetterman put it, “so British.”

“I call this the Driving Miss Daisy photo,” Fetterman said of the photo that shows both a chauffeur and poodle sitting at attention in the front seat of a vehicle. “It just puts a smile on my face.”

The power of an image is truly in the eye of the beholder, and the idea of the power it can hold is also found in Bowers’ other new exhibition, “Beyond the Great Wave: Works by Hokusai from the British Museum.”

Alfred Haft is the curator for “Beyond the Great Wave: Works by Hokusai from the British Museum” at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai was best known for designing the print known as ‘The Great Wave,’” said curator Alfred Haft. “He designed that print at the age of 72 when he was well into his third career as an artist.”

“The Great Wave” was originally featured in Hokusai’s series, “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” centered on the raw power and beauty of nature. While the exhibition begins with a preserved early example of “The Great Wave,” the show presents a diverse array of Hokusai’s works that go beyond the iconic image.

The show is a collaboration between Bowers Museum and the British Museum and contains over 100 paintings, drawings, woodblock prints and illustrated books that offer insight into the evolution of Hokusai’s work.

“You get a sense of the passion that he brought to painting and the humanity he brought to painting,” said Haft.

The extensive collection is largely the result of the foresight of six individuals who played a pivotal role in building the Hokusai collection at the British Museum and are featured in biographical portraits in the exhibition.

“The Great Wave,” by Katsushika Hokusai, a widely known iconic wood print, on display at “Beyond the Great Wave: Works by Hokusai from the British Museum” at the Bowers Museum. The piece is displayed only every five years or so, according to president Sean O’Harrow.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“How do we have these things available to us today? That is on account of some very astute collectors who were interested in his work at a very early stage and thought that the British Museum would be a good place to have these preserved as a legacy for future generations,” Haft said.

Among the pieces are privately commissioned prints of illustrated poems, beautifully made with fine block-cutting and pigments of the highest quality.

“For most of his career he actually was designing illustrations for popular novels,” said Haft.

The exhibition finishes with examples of work from his last years before his death at the age of 90.

Although Hokusai began making art at 8 years old, he is said to have remarked that it wasn’t until his 70s that he produced anything worthwhile. Haft said he respectfully disagrees and holds Hokusai’s estimated 30,000 prints that span his 70-year career as evidence.

“The power of Hokusai’s work is immediately inspiring,” said Haft.

Printed in 1890, a print of Abraham Lincoln at “The Power of Photography” exhibit, from curator Peter Fetterman.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“The Power of Photography” is open until Jan. 14, and “Beyond the Great Wave: Works by Hokusai from the British Museum” runs through Jan. 7. The Bowers Museum is located at 20th and Main streets in Santa Ana.

Four photojournalists, two in Israel and two in Gaza, provided context behind their powerful images.

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

Bodies in black bags, lined up on the ground in the Israeli village of Kfar Azza. A woman holding the body of her grandson in Khan Younis, Gaza. Devastated mourners at a funeral for their loved ones. A man, wounded and dazed, following an airstrike.

After Hamas, which controls Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, photographers documented moments of mourning and later, mobilization. Israel retaliated by bombarding Gaza with airstrikes; a photographer in the Gaza City neighborhood of Al-Nasr captured images of children looking toward the sky, fearing aerial attacks.

Over the past two weeks, the photojournalism of The New York Times has relayed the horror and human cost of the conflict. The photographs are hard to look at, but The Times publishes them to convey to readers the gravity of the devastation in the region.

“These are images of loss and death. Of civilians caught up in war. In some cases, they are proof of crimes,” said Gaia Tripoli, a senior photography editor for The Times.

Ms. Tripoli, who is based in London, oversees the Times photography coming out of Israel and Gaza. She said her team takes great care when deciding whether to publish a graphic image, weighing the newsworthiness of the photograph and considering the dignity of those pictured.

If the editors decide that a photograph should be published, they then discuss its placement in an article. Does the photo appear next to the headline, where it will immediately confront the reader? Or should it be placed a few paragraphs down in the text, so as not to disturb someone who isn’t expecting it? Should it be used to accompany posts on social media?

Below are four photographs taken by freelance photojournalists who are covering the war for The Times. Sergey Ponomarev, a Russian photojournalist, and Avishag Shaar-Yashuv, an Israeli photojournalist, are in Israel. Samar Abu Elouf and Yousef Masoud are Palestinian photojournalists in Gaza. In email exchanges and phone calls, they provided context that goes beyond the frame to Times Insider. Mr. Masoud and Ms. Abu Elouf’s accounts have been translated from Arabic. — Terence McGinley

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KFAR AZZA, ISRAEL This photo was taken on a basketball playground. That day, Israeli soldiers and volunteers were recovering bodies from the Kfar Azza kibbutz, which was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7. It was a low-income housing complex. Many houses were one-bedroom apartments, probably occupied by couples or single young people. With a short distance to the Gaza Strip, the border fence was just outside the kibbutz. Soldiers were waiting for another truck to transport bodies because the one in the frame was already filled and they didn’t want to put bodies on top of one another. — Sergey Ponomarev

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GAZA CITY I took this picture on the last day before I evacuated Gaza City to go to Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. I was sleeping at the Al Shifa Hospital and had just woken up to the sound of a very loud explosion. It was an airstrike at the nearby Shati refugee camp. I knew there would be casualties; I went to the door of the emergency room area, where they would be coming in. It’s different, witnessing the wounded in real life rather than seeing them in a picture. You see their expression, their shock, their emotions. They appear lost and confused.

It’s not easy photographing people who were asleep and then woken up by a strike and found themselves surrounded by the wounded and dead, searching for their children and loved ones. A photograph captures a moment, but not necessarily the horror surrounding it. I spend most of my time in the hospital, because it’s the only way to be connected to what is happening around me. Outside the hospital there is no electricity or internet. I am on standby here. Since the start of the war I haven’t slept at all in my home. — Samar Abu Elouf

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GAN YAVNE, ISRAEL As a photographer, you attend a funeral and hope that your presence won’t add to the pain of the families. At previous funerals I had photographed in Israel since the attack by Hamas, I didn’t know the family — but the people who were buried at the funeral here, I knew very well. The evening before, their family contacted me to inform me of the funeral date.

I’m used to the camera protecting me, serving as a kind of shield. This time my pain was too close and too great, and the camera wasn’t able to hide my tears.

During the funeral, I photographed alongside the rest of the media, to disturb the proceedings as little as possible. At the end, when all the attendees approached the graves, I approached for the first time. From there we could feel the pain and grief in the faces of the people. — Avishag Shaar-Yashuv

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KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA I took this picture on the morning of Oct. 10 at Nasser Hospital. The woman held the body of her grandson before his funeral. His father was also killed when their house was destroyed in an airstrike in east Khan Younis, Gaza. — Yousef Masoud

Translation provided by Mona Boshnaq.

Marian University Ancilla College Vice President and Academic Dean, Dr. Natalie Tucker, has been actively working with Pat Cowan, wife of Ralph Cowan, and myself in order to find ways to have students, faculty, and staff engage with Ralph’s photography collection. 

This amazing photography collection came to PHJCs in 2020 and has been perfectly archived and organized by PHJC coworkers with the help of Sisters Linda Volk and Kathleen Kelley. The collection consists of hundreds of profound, high quality, striking photos of all subject matter taken by Ralph Cowan who was one of the most sought-after professional photographers of his time, thus making a lasting career in professional photography. His work took him and his wife around the world as they photographed their travels. Ralph has an inquisitive eye for capturing the human spirit. The incredible amount of detail, use of light, subject matter, etc., makes his work outstanding in his field. 

Numerous faculty and staff have visited the archival collection, and discussions have ensued that would enable using the photos in creative writing, business/advertising classes, and global history courses. This would provide great benefit to the students and their academic learning. Most students are visual learners, so being able to see, think, reflect, analyze, and engage with the photography collection would be impactful for many in their advancement.

MCAU is also designing a permanent collection/ display of a set of Cowan photos that will be positioned nearby the Hardesty classroom. The use of numerous photos may also find a home in many offices, hallways, and in the campus learning commons (library) as part of displays throughout the year. The goal is to get the photos out and about the campus and the college community, so many can engage, be inspired, learn, and think more deeply about various subject matter and the art of photography. This important documentary work is also used widely used by the PHJCs. 

If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Dr. Natalie Tucker at MCAU and/or myself in the Archives Office, Motherhouse. Many hands make light work, and all help is appreciated.