The Willis Bell Photographic Archive is officially online!
Mmofra Foundation is thrilled to announce the official launch of the Willis Bell Photographic Archive, in partnership with the Matrix Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences at Michigan State University.
This remarkable collection is the legacy of photographer Willis E. Bell (1924-1999), who documented life and culture in a newly independent Ghana between 1958 and 1978. The Archive is remarkable for its scope and diversity, including over 40,000 photographic images.
Bell’s professional career and personal curiosity led him to explore political portraiture, architecture, industrial photography, advertising, religion and cultural practice, and scenes of everyday life across Ghana. As such, the collection is valuable for audiences of all ages, both locally and internationally.
A selection of photographs by Willis E. Bell, c. 1958-1978.
Preserving visual heritage
In 1999, Willis Bell gifted his collection to Mmofra Foundation.
Since his bequest, the Foundation has undertaken a decades-long conservation effort, involving partnerships with institutions like the Goethe-Institut, the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, the Modern Endangered Archives Program at University of California, Los Angeles, and Friends of Mmofra.
The Archive’s most transformational period to date (2023-2025) has been achieved through its collaboration with Matrix, funded by the United States National Endowment for the Humanities.
Exploring subjects featured in the Willis Bell Photographic Archive.
Every stage of the conservation process has increased local capacity through rigorous training of young Ghanaian students, artists, journalists, scholars, and activists. Each member of the team has enriched the Archive with their research and restoration efforts.
Dissemination workshop for the Willis Bell Archive, supported by the Modern Endangered Archives Program at UCLA (April 2024).
What’s next for the Archive?
Future phases of preservation and development for the Willis Bell Archive include:
Conservation: stabilizing the archive storage environment to protect fragile negatives and prints.
Capacity Building: contributing to visual culture practice in Ghana through conservation workshops, public discussions, and other modes of insight sharing.
Community Engagement: Sharing images from the archive with communities represented in the collection, and engaging with subject matter experts to enrich our metadata.
Image Licensing: Supporting usage requests for publication, exhibition, research, and more.
Publication: Creating new publications and products based on images from the Archive.
Your support will allow us to continue preserving the visual heritage of Ghana and building conservation capacity across West Africa! Learn more about how you can contribute to the Willis Bell Archive here.