– Ken Bacchus’ Story

By Marissa V. Foster

KEN Bacchus is one of Guyana’s best creative photographers. He is well known for his rustic yet aesthetical photography with nature, fashion and in the local streets/ busy scenes. His work is popular amongst young Guyanese and can be easily highlighted, based on his signature styles of editing. He has truly changed the game by mastering the skill of creating photographic art and he hopes his story can serve as an inspiration to others out there with a similar passion. Ken always found himself with a sketch pad and pencil; drawing whenever he had the chance to. His family wasn’t the richest, but they always did their best to put food on the table. They always made sure he was comfortable and he owes much of his success to them.

He was never the highest achiever when it came to academics, but he always had the ambition to keep on striving for the best. Ken first discovered the power of photography in secondary school. After practising and binge-watching YouTube tutorials; he eventually branded himself as a photographer. He is also thankful for the guidance and mentorship from other photographers as well. After networking and learning from others, he eventually specialized in macro-photography. Currently, he is interested in fashion and street photography, which was introduced to him by local artist and Creative Director Clinton Duncan. This is Ken’s third year working behind a camera as a professional photographer.
He describes an unplanned change of residence one year ago as being a difficult life challenge thus far. He had to change and adapt to an entirely new environment, which was quite uncomfortable. The move also affected his performance as a photographer because he found himself being uninterested in picking up his camera. Eventually, he found out that he was going through an artist block, which lasted for about four weeks. After expressing himself on this topic on his Facebook profile, he was contacted by a few local artists to collaborate on a few projects which would prove to get him “back in the game” as a photographer.

He never expected to gain as much support as he has now from other photographers; at least not of this magnitude and for that, he’s very grateful for their compassion. He had the privilege of being featured in newspapers and around social media. He also completed a few projects with other local Guyanese artists. Ken expressed that while photography and art are his main interests, he also uses his platform on social media to voice his opinions on social issues, women and animal rights. This always results in healthy dialogues with other young people who have a mutual interest in our society and want to see us move forward as a nation.

This inventive photographer inevitably plans to take his craft overseas, as he believes that would be the best thing for him as an artist. While Guyana is filled with talent and creativity and the potential to flourish in the art sector, we don’t often make it appear as such. Being an artist is already a roller coaster by itself, so being an artist in Guyana is unnecessarily stressful. As one of Guyana’s most creative photographers, he would like to advise other upcoming artists by saying, “Stay true to yourself. Know what it is you want, stay open-minded and try to live a little. Art is one of the things that you can turn to that allows you to express yourself just as you are. A goal followed by ambition will always be reached, no matter the circumstances.”