Croydon photographer Ernest snapped up dream Ghana job (From Your Local Guardian)

Croydon photographer Ernest snapped up dream Ghana job

10:30am Saturday 31st July 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

A photographer who dropped everything to immerse himself with Africa’s top football team during the World Cup has returned with a series of iconic pictures.

Ernest Simons gained unrivalled access to Ghana’s Black Stars during the month-long competition in South Africa, capturing them training, relaxing and celebrating throughout their run to the quarter-finals.

The side came to embody the hopes of the entire continent after every other African side dropped out in the group stages - with Mr Simons documenting the fever surrounding the team every step of the way.

He said: “I wanted to follow the team around because it was the first World Cup in Africa, and I thought it would be a massive historical moment for the African sides.

“I called the Ghanaian Football Association(GFA) and they were quite interested, but they said they’d heard this story before from people and it hadn’t happened.

“I flew over to Ghana at Christmas to see my dad, and while I was there I knocked on the door of the GFA.

“I think they were pretty surprised when I showed up and proposed my idea to them.”

Mr Simons said he was proudest of a shot of the team gathered in a circle praying in an empty stadium ahead of one of their practice sessions.

He said: "They have got their own personal GFA drummer and that’s all he does - it does hype the boys up.

"The praying session turns into a dance and song and I was there to witness that - I filmed a lot of stuff as well.

"They were just like a bunch of young boys on a school trip.

"They created their own entertainment and their own games, and they play all over the place so they were sharing their experiences."

As well as the celebrations, Mr Simons was with the squad as they were controversially knocked out of the competition by Uruguay.

"They were utterly gutted after the game, dropping to the floor and (star striker) Gyan had burst into tears because he’d missed the penalty," he said.

"(Fellow player) Kevin Prince-Boateng ran up to him and tried to say it wasn’t his fault they lost.

"It was a team effort - they came as a team, and left as a team, and that’s the greatest thing I witnessed there."

More of Mr Simons work is available online at ejsphotographer.com.