Towards the end of the summer of 2022 I was lucky enough to be commissioned to spend two weeks photographing The Lambeth Conference. 650 Bishops, 450 of their spouses and a few hundred guests and staff in and around the University of Kent, Canterbury Cathedral and Lambeth Palace made for a fascinating experience and some very interesting pictures. That was act one.

The last eleven days have been act two. This time there are fewer Bishops, fewer Archbishops and a very different location. I’m writing this whilst still in Accra – the capital city of Ghana in West Africa – waiting to go to the airport to fly home. The difference between the locations is vast. It’s hot here and the humidity has been tough on me and almost as tough on my cameras. It’s a developing country with all of the colour, noise and atmosphere you’d expect but with so much more.

I’ve been lucky enough to have taken pictures and had lunch in two different palaces and a High Commission. I have shot pictures in three different cathedrals, six different churches, an airport VIP area, an air-conditioned conference centre and a former slave trading fort. I have spent much of my time with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, who has met with the King of the Asante, the President and former President of Ghana, The British High Commissioner, the Omanhen Of Oguaa Traditional Area and President Of Oguaa Traditonal Council as well as a huge number of others with and without titles. We have travelled around in buses, coaches, a Ghana Air Force transport plane and a few high-speed police escorted motorcades. It’s been eye-opening, physically, professionally and emotionally challenging and it’s been amazing.

This was the Eighteenth Anglican Consultative Council where every three or four years Bishops, clergy and lay members of the worldwide Anglican Communion get together and talk about what they can do to fulfil their role. As the ‘official photographer’ for the whole event it’s been my job to capture as much as I can and to make the pictures available to whoever needs them. Long days and lots of editing.

None of the indoor venues has had much light and the high ISO capabilities of my Canon R6 bodies has been tested many times (and passed every time). Their ability to keep going in and around 40 degree heat with high humidity has impressed me and, of course, the image quality and ease of use has matched everything I have written about before. For once though, this isn’t a blog post about the gear and it’s not about the workflow – it’s about the joy of doing my job and about the amazing situations that being a photographer has allowed me to get into.

The pinnacle of the trip was the privilege of being in a former slave dungeon at the Cape Coast Castle with three Archbishops. One from West Africa, one from the West Indies and one from England. It was dark, it was hot and it was emotional. We had been on the standard tour with thirty or so others with a talented tour guide and it felt claustrophobic. I cannot imagine the hell that those held captive there must have experienced; none of us could, but it was deeply moving all the same.

Other days were less emotional and we even has some fun. The main thrust of the job was, after all, to photograph a conference but getting to spend a decent amount of time around so many interesting and important people is one of those life experiences that I will never forget. I’m glad that I get paid to do this and get to enjoy what I still (thirty-six and a half years later) love to do.

I’d just like to say a big thank you to everyone on this trip and the countless Ghanaians who have made it possible, made it enjoyable and who have made me feel so welcome. Medase Ghana, medase.