PHOTO:Seydou Keïta
Considered to be one the important precursors of African photography, Seydou Keita, like many of his contemporaries, nothing particularly predestined him to become a photographer. He was entirely self-trained, fashioned insightful studio portraits of ordinary Malian people, usually posed with intriguing combinations of African and Western clothing and props that he provided.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Galerie Nathalie Obadia Archive
A selection of Seydou Keïta’s black & white portraits of the residents of Bamako, from 1948 to 1960 is on exhibition at Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai. His photographs eloquently portray Bamako society during its era of transition from a cosmopolitan French colony to an independent capital of Mali. He Seydou Keïta was born in Bamako which was at the time the capital of the French colony of Sudan, his career as a photographer was launched in 1935 by an uncle who gave him his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Flash. During his adolescence Keïta mastered the technical challenges of shooting and printing; he later purchased a large-format camera. The larger format not only offered an exceptional degree of resolution, it also made it possible for Keïta to make high quality contact prints without the aid of an enlarger. In 1948 he opened his own studio in Bamako when photography in West Africa, formerly under the strict cultural policies of direct French rule, became a vehicle for self-definition of a new, and distinctly modern, African subject. Whether photographing single individuals, families, or professional associations, Keïta balanced a strict sense of formality with a remarkable level of intimacy with his subjects. Like many professional photographers, he furnished his studio with numerous props, from backdrops and costumes, to Vespas and luxury cars. He would renew these props every few years, which later allowed him to establish a chronology for his work. Keïta commented on his studio practice, “It’s easy to take a photo, but what really made a difference was that I always knew how to find the right position, and I was never wrong. Their head slightly turned, a serious face, the position of the hands . . . I was capable of making someone look really good”. In 1962 the newly installed Socialist government made Keïta its official photographer; shortly thereafter he closed down his studio, although he remained active until his retirement in 1977. His archive of over 10,000 negatives was gradually brought to light in the early ’90s, Keïta has since achieved International recognition.
Info: Galerie Nathalie Obadia, 3 rue du Cloître Saint-Merri, Paris, Duration: 6/11-22/12/17, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 11:00-19:00, www.nathalieobadia.com
