Angelina Oduro speaks after 20 years of being a national symbol.
The lady behind the iconic photo “Akwaaba” seen in different houses and offices has opened up how the said image has become a viral symbol.
She is in the person of Angelina Oduro and she said she didn’t know it’s going to go this far when she first walked into a studio to take the photo.
Talking to Elbaboriz TV in an interview, Angelina said she was just taking a photo to be put in her own hall.
The image has since become one of Ghana’s most iconic emblems and is seen throughout the country at various offices, arts and craft centres.
It has also become the unofficial national photo conveying the “Akwaaba” message, to welcome visitors and tourists into Ghana.
“When I became of age, I decided to take a picture and put in my hall,”
she revealed.
She clarified that all she cared about was to imitate an image she saw in a drinking bar when she was a young girl.
Angelina said she had so much loved that picture that she asked a photographer in 1999 to help her recreate it with her own.
“My mum used to send me, and there was this bar with a beautiful lady pouring plamwine. I was just admiring it,”
she said.
“I always used to say that I would grow up and take a photo like this one.”
Angelina later said her photographer asked her permission to start selling the picture following a rise in buyers’ requests.
She admitted that although at first she didn’t like her photo circulating around, she made some money from it.
“Once in a while, he [photographer] would tell me he has sold something,”
Angelina stated.
She added that she was just 19 years when her photo started making waves.
Angelina is currently married with two children and teaches at fashion schools as a trade.