Andrew Esiebo has produced three great photo features over the past several months. Andrew is a respected and internationally recognized photographer who has had exhibits and residencies across Europe. His work has focused on urban portraiture, his images taken in Nigeria and Ghana capturing the essence of the story and conveying the importance that soccer plays in the lives of people across these two countries.

Games of Hope is a photo feature about the betting “pool houses across the country. The bettors play every week in the hope of winning the jackpot of up to 400,000 Naira – the equivalent of the average annual wage among workers in Nigeria. However, most bettors walk away empty handed and console themselves in the company of friends who gather at the pool houses to relax and engage in other forms of recreational activities such as card games, draughts and Ayo (a Yoruba board game).”

His second photo feature, Surviving Dreams, has 20 black-and-white images that tell the story of coach/evangelist, Sunny Omini, “an ex-football star who promising career was cut short by injuries. He later went into coaching but quit suddenly to become a Christian missionary. Years later he returned to the game, setting up the Signal Meteor Football Academy, a grassroots training academy for young men in danger of social exclusion. Today, he works with around 30 young men on what he calls a ‘church on the field’, helping them to build a brighter future through soccer.”

In his third feature, Soccer Worlds, Andrew captures images of the many spaces around Ghana that people find to play soccer in, “Open pieces of land in the country side, city main road, beaches, empty market grounds or the streets themselves – the game brings them alive.” These images are part of a bigger series of work that Andrew has been working on called Soccer Worlds.

See more of Andrew and the Dream Team’s work at African Media Online.

Well Ghana won convincingly and what a colourful event it was! The celebration of winning over Sudan was heightened by Mali failing to win over Benin outright which pushed Ghana through to becoming the first African team, outside the host nation, South Africa, to qualify for the first African World Cup.

Above: I asked Manual Neneyew before the match if Ghana is going to win today – this was his reaction!Get rights to this picture on Africa Media Online

Our team of 12 photographers and 11 reporters have been flat out producing the first stories and photo features of the Twenty Ten project. The reporters produced news and analysis based around the match on Sunday night in the aftermath of the match which we delivered to the Ghanaian press and then yesterday, each wrote more enduring features that will be going online shortly. The next assignment they will produce will be in-depth features with universal appeal that will be produced when they are back in their 11 different home nations.

Above: Zimbabwean photographer Davina Jogi gets the other angle, capturing the press frenzy as the two captains perform the toss.

The first output from the photographers was a single image from the assignments they have been working on. The gallery can be viewed here. Today they will be starting to file their in-depth features which will be coming online over the next week.

Tomorrow we wrap up the first workshop here in Ghana and the journalists each gear up to produce another two assignments from their home countries in the next six weeks. The project team in turn work hard toward the next workshop to be held in Egypt during the U20 FIFA World Cup.

The work that has been produced has been of such quality that an Agency in Japan and another one in China have just contracted with us to dstribute to those markets.

Below: Twenty Ten journalists and team members get to grips with the the Ghana-Sudan clash and have a lot of fun doing it!

Left: Nigerian photographer, Adolphus Opara, gets a fresh angle on a trinkets seller outside the stadium








Left: Nigerian photographers, Andrew Eisebo (right) and Adolphus Opara (centre), engage with a Ghanaian cheer leader

Left: Zimbabwean photographer, Davina Jogi checks her camera between shooting in the Ohere Djan stadium

Left: Nigerian photographers, Andrew Eisebo (right) and Akintunde Akinleye (centre), follow the triumphant Ghanaian team off the field at the close of the match

Left: Nigerian photographer, Andrew Eisebo (right) uses creative measures to get a shot of star Ghanaian striker Michael Essien

Left: South African journalist, Lucky Sindane (left) and Zimbabwean photographer, Davina Jogi, enjoy the post match celebrations

Left: Andre from lokaalmondiaal gets friendly with senior Ghanaian security personnel. Andre is producing a documentary on the Twenty Ten project and spent the week following Twenty Ten journalists and photographers

Left: lokaalmondiaal director, Stefan Verwer (left) and Marc de Boere (right) run http://www.roadto2010.nl/ and were working on producing a book from the project that will be published in Holland by KIT Publishers

Left: Overall project co-ordinator, Ruth de Vries, from World Press Photo gets into the mood

Left: Kenyan photographer, Julius Mwelu captures a portrait of a Ghanaian cheerleader

Left: World Press Photo award winning photographer and photographer trainer, Chris de Bode interacts with Ghana’s self-proclaimed Number 1 Supporter, Oboa Samuel

Left: Pulitzer prize winning photographer and photography trainer, Greg Marinovich, gives expression at the end of an amazing media event