I really love hand painted signs and luckily they can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. I fear it's a dying art, soon to be replaced by cheap printed ads. I could not believe my luck last year when a young man who ran a little hair grooming business on a main road in Kumasi, offered to sell me one of his signs. It depicts the snazzy "Sherif" and "Boeing 707" hair styles. Not an easy thing to drag back on the plane, but certainly worth it.
In Ghana, I found painted signs and ads to be a real godsend given that: A) I am not a great photographer, and B) people did not like their photo taken. Markets and streets were just bustling with photo ops. Colorful clothes, wonderful produce, fantastic looking people everywhere, and I don't have a decent photo to show for it. Instead, I offer you this little collection of signs ...
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Image -- © Anouk Zijlma