A Ghanaian newlywed couple stand proudly arm in arm while dressed in elegant western attire. The bride dons a long white wedding gown and an elaborate embroidered headdress with a long white trail that falls in a pile on the carpeted floor. The groom wears a smart black suit with a prominent top hat. Both wear white gloves. The photograph, titled “Colonial Wedding” dates to circa 1930 in Accra, Ghana by Ghanaian photographer J. K. Bruce-Vanderpuije. The black and white photograph is one of 25 by the iconic African photographer on view in Unveiling the Shadows of the Past: J. K. Bruce-Vanderpuije – The Hidden Icon of Photography in Africa.

Bruce-Vanderpuije’s photographs tell the story of Ghanaian modern history through the lens of a local. As the adage goes, the pen is mightier than the sword, but in Bruce-Vanderpuije’s case, the camera’s power exceeds even that of the pen to capture a crucial moment in Ghana’s history—one which witnessed the nation still in the throes of British colonial rule yet on the cusp of independence, just before a moment of great social, cultural and political change.

To understand the context in which Bruce-Vanderpuije was photographing, it is crucial to comprehend a summary of Ghanaian history. After the unification of various Soninke people around 300 CE the Empire of Ghana took form around the northwest of present-day Ghana also encompassing what is today Mauritania, Mali and Senegal. It was known as the Gold Coast due to the large quantities of gold that existed there. From 1600 European colonizers arrived in the region eager to acquire as much gold and Ivory as possible, before they went on to trade in captive Africans during the Transatlantic slave trade. In 1874 the territory was officially made a British colony and was thereafter called the “Gold Coast Colony.” Centuries later, after decades of tireless efforts led by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s nationalist leader and architect of the country’s independence on March 6, 1957, the United Kingdom released its grip and Ghana became an independent nation, with Nkrumah as its first African-born Prime Minister and President—a leader America’s Martin Luther King would look to for inspiration in nonviolent action and change.