Seasoned adventure travel and destination photographer, Steve Ababio, together with Gina Arthur, a travel curator, recently traversed the country, journeying across to discover and document the major waterfalls in Ghana. In the end, they compiled their findings in a breathtaking book that will have you seeing Ghana’s natural beauty through their lens, in a whole different light. PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson cornered Steve and asked him what motivated him to undertake this venture.

Titled “Chasing Waterfalls,” the book captures all the waterfalls to be found in Ghana, from one here in the Greater Accra Region, to several in the Eastern and Volta regions. And, Ghana’s waterfalls hold the same fascination as waterfalls the world over. There are no persons for whom falling water holds no allure. Its aesthetics, when it gushes out, or graceful drop in meter lengths, out in nature, creating that ambience only water has the ability to form, is so endearing. Falling water has this quality of being so powerfully, and mysteriously attractive, giving its environ that certain character and allure.

With the draw of waterfalls so universal, it is no wonder that photographer Steve Ababio came under its spell and captured those located across the country. Let me quote a truism. “When we list the top 5 photojournalists in Ghana, we all know that Steve Ababio is one of them.” CEO of Steve Ababio Photography Inc., he started this entrepreneurial journey in 2003. And not only did he focus on adventure travel and destination photography, as thorough as he is when it comes to his field, Steve does some serious analysis of his subject before the execution of any images he presents. But what was the motivation for this adventure?

“I was tipped off about Akaa Falls in 2006 by my friend, Mawuli Kofi Okudzeto,” says Steve. And it was love at first sight upon his first visit. He returned, “this time with fellow photographer friends, Bob Pixel and Nana Kofi Acquah.”

A year or so later, the three of them were blessed enough to travel together round the country for a week on assignment for Type Company. They visited Wli Falls, Kintampo Falls and Fuller Falls on that journey. This helped solidify Steve’s desire to do something that focused on waterfalls. “I never thought it would take me over a decade, and in the absence of one of my dearest friends, for this dream to finally begin to see the light of day. “Bob Pixel’s premature departure made me sit up and see that even though we say it all the time, it is a harsh reality that “time no dey”. You have to do what you have to do and you need to do it now. Stop putting things off!”

An accomplished man, Steve has an enviable vitae. He is himself a great inspiration for many, but mentions Fred Swaniker, a progressive young African making waves in the world of business, as one who – even though he’s never met in person – inspires him in so many important ways.

In conversation with Gina, who he already knew, one day, he deduced that her “organisational and ‘bullying’ skills would bring much to bear, to push such a project from the realm of dreams and discussion into reality”. She did not disappoint. The moment she bought into the idea, she made rubber literally meet the road.

Do Hard Things

If there’s one thing he’s learnt in his traversing around the world, and Steve has been around a bit, it’s this “large banner atop the stairs leading down to the classrooms at the campus of ALU in Mauritius with a sentence in red that says; DO HARD THINGS.”

The purpose of Ababio’s coffee table book was not scientific or anthropological. It was simply a resource to soothe and calm from everyday stressors by taking one away from one’s environment into the peaceful forest through images. If one listens carefully, one will hear the gush of flowing water, the chirping of the birds in the trees, the discord of the crickets and the rustling of the leaves in the wind.

Here, finally, a book that transports into a realm of peace and tranquility, calm and quiet. Images upon whose sight, one can recharge and reset without ever leaving one’s seat.