Kwei Quartey — Captured Moments

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I'm delighted to introduce novelist Kwei Quartey, author of the thrilling MURDER AT CAPE THREE POINTS. Here's a bit more on Kwei: 

Kwei Quartey is a crime fiction writer and physician living in Pasadena, California. Having practiced medicine for more than 20 years while simultaneously working as a writer, he has attained noteworthy achievements in both fields. Dr. Quartey balances the two professions by dedicating the early morning hours to writing before beginning a day in his clinic.

Kwei Quartey attended medical school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1990, he began practicing medicine in California with HealthCare Partners. Dr. Quartey later founded the facility’s wound care center while working as an urgent care physician.

As a crime fiction writer, Kwei Quartey made the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List in 2009. The following year, the G.O.G. National Book Club awarded him the title of Best Male Author. Having published Wife of the Gods and Children of the Street, Murder at Cape Three Points was released in March 2014. Death at the Voyager Hotel, a mystery e-novella not belonging to the series, was published July 2013. Dr. Quartey is also a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime, a fiction writers’ organization.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: And not only that, but he's an amazing photographer. Welcome, Kwei — and thank you so much for sharing your "frozen moments." They are powerful.

KWEI QUARTEY: I’m no professional photographer, but I’m always on the lookout for a beautiful, funny or otherwise memorable moment that may never repeat itself: once it’s gone, it’s gone. For me, a “frozen” moment is more evocative than a video. Not all photos are equal. Only some have an indefinable quality that triggers an intense reproduction of the feeling I had at the place at the time: awe, tenderness, sadness, joy, disgust---and it may even include the smells and sounds I experienced. Keeping one’s feelings well exercised and in good shape is important to writing, because it helps infuse the author's work--each word, each sentence--with emotion, thus making for a better connection with the reader.

SUNRISES

Lovely sunrises induce in me a feeling of eagerness and hope for what the new day will bring, as well as sometimes restless “existential” questions such as why, and how, are we here on this planet in this universe. I seldom take pictures of sunsets, and I don't like arriving in a new city at dusk when I go out of town. Small wonder I always write early in the morning and love to see the dawn come. Below, this glorious burst of sunrise in Pasadena as I was returning from the gym one morning seemed to develop over only a matter of minutes.

PASADENA SUNRISE (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

Flying out of Detroit one early morning, I snapped this photo of a grayish, late winter dawn. The Mackinah Bridge can be seen faintly in the background. Not the brash explosion of color as the image above, but a lovely combination of subtle colors.

MICHIGAN SUNRISE (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

LANDSCAPES AND SEASCAPES
I like to gaze at stretches of unspoiled land and ocean. Similar to what I feel with sunrises, unspoiled earth and water can make me wonder about the enormity of life, its nature, and its purpose.

BEAUTIFUL EZILE BAY IN THE WESTERN REGION OF GHANA (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

WAVES AND ROCKS CLASH AT CAPE THREE POINTS, GHANA (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

Besides the beauty of Cape Three Points, this would be a spectacular location in which to set a murder. Just think of all those jagged rocks. Just a little push . . .

LONE FISHERMAN ON ROCKS AT CAPE THREE POINTS (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

In a completely different locale and climate, I recently traveled to Sweden, and on a trip from Stockholm to Uppsala by train I admired the beautiful countryside. I love trains, and as I gaze outside, I get in a contemplative mood. Most houses in Sweden are constructed with wood painted with the centuries-old Falun deep red.

RURAL SWEDEN (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

ANIMALS AND CHILDREN
I often equate the two because they cannot speak for themselves and are so often the victims of cruelty. Hence, I feel tender toward kids and animals of all kinds, including snakes, believe it or not. At Esther's Hotel in Accra, Ghana, lovely peacocks freely roam the premises.

CURIOUS PEACOCK LOOKING IN (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

Since childhood, I've had a love and admiration for horses, and even though I no longer have significant contact with equines, I daresay I still have the touch.

BONDING WITH SILVER BLAZE, BURMA CAMP, ACCRA (Photo: Kobby M)

It might seem odd, but I thought this little toad on a cocoa farm in Ghana was cute, and he didn't seem to mind me petting him either.

TOAD-WHISPERER? (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

In my travels in Ghana, I always come across children who love their photos taken, greeting the instant images with howls of delighted laughter. I met this playful young rascal below, Isaac, when I visited Fort Metal Cross in Dixcove, Ghana.

ALRIGHT MR. DeMILLE, I'M READY FOR MY CLOSEUP (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

At an urban school in Accra, these ebullient siblings from the neighborhood were always around. The boy was never without a pair of bright red rubber boots.

MASTER RED-BOOTS AND HIS SISTER (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

My prize photo below, these children in the Ashanti town of Dunkwa, Ghana, flocked for their photo with smiles at the ready.

MILLION-DOLLAR SMILES (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

BUILDINGS
Although I love unspoiled nature, some architecture and building is difficult not to admire, particularly in Europe and Scandinavia. Sweden has easily recognizable architecture. In Uppsala, a Swedish university town, I snapped the castle as it caught the sunlight and seemed glow in contrast
to the gray stone steps.

UPPSALA CASTLE, SWEDEN (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

ICONIC STOCKHOLM WATERFRONT (Photo:Kwei Quartey)

In a way, Stockholm is my third home after the US and Ghana, as I have family there and visit frequently.

HEARTBREAK
Not everything can be sweetness and light. Much of what I photograph is also painful. In the Accra slum of Agbogbloshie, young men and teenagers or younger scrounge around electronic waste--much of it dumped from western countries in the guise of "donations"--looking for precious metals on circuit boards and burning toxic plastic off copper wires, which they will later sell.

TELEVISION GRAVEYARD

TOXIC FUMES INHALED ALL DAY

In the Ashanti Region, north of Accra, small-scale alluvial miners called galamsey dig for gold
in the uprooted landscape left behind by a recent influx of Chinese illegal gold miners to Ghana, most of them now unceremoniously expelled from the country.

BACKBREAKING WORK FOR A VERY SMALL YIELD

What was once forest and farmland has been slashed and scarred with the merciless use of excavators, leaving behind devastated landscapes.

WOMAN AND CHILD PASS A DEEP EXCAVATED PIT

Pollution of waterways with deadly heavy metals like mercury is widespread.

MURKY RUNOFF FROM THE OFIN RIVER, ASHANTI REGION

Back down to the coast, this stirring scene is tinged with sadness as Elmina Castle, built by the Portuguese in 1482, recalls the slave trade of centuries past.

ELMINA CASTLE IN THE BACKGROUND

But let's finish on a nice note with a smile from Master Isaac.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Reds and readers, what do you think of Kwei's photographs? What feelings do they evoke in you?

What makes a photograph, as Kwei would say, "an intense reproduction of a feeling"?

Do you photograph to capture "frozen moments"? Do you keep them on your computer or in a physical photobook? Tacked up on the fridge? Framed and on the wall? 


P.S. And what are your feelings on snakes and toads? Personally, like Kwei, I love them....