Back in 2015, Accra-based art director Orlando Mensah founded a new culture platform named Manju Journal. Its mission is to champion emerging talent in photography and other creative disciplines from across Africa and its diaspora, and foster a supportive community along the way. Stylist Kusi Kubi joined in early 2020 as fashion director. Over the last years, the platform has become the go-to place for a new generation of image-makers and storytellers on the continent – something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by big industry players. In 2020 and 2021 alone, respectively Gucci and Burberry approached Manju for collaborative projects set in Ghana – making use of both founders’ local expertise. For Orlando this is only the beginning: with the platform he is becoming a mediator between the abundance of young makers and the industry they have often been excluded from. Here, Orlando speaks about how the West-African creative industry has evolved over the last couple of years, what makes a compelling photographer, and what work he likes to adorn his own house with.