A young man in a crisp suit sits with a radio on his knee. Two women in matching patterned dresses pose against a backdrop of bold fabric. A family arranges itself carefully, each person looking straight into the lens. These portraits were made in Bamako, Mali, by Seydou Keïta, a studio photographer who worked from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. For decades they were kept in family albums. In the 1990s they were discovered by the wider world, and today they are among the most celebrated images in African photography.
Early life and the studio
Seydou Keïta was born in Bamako around 1921. He trained as a carpenter, working with his father and uncle, before an uncle gave him a camera. In 1948, Keïta opened a photography studio in Bamako, then part of French West Africa. It became popular with people from all walks of life. Keïta often photographed his subjects in front of patterned fabrics, which he changed every few years. The combination of patterned clothes and backdrops gives his portraits their distinctive look.
Props, poses and rediscovery
He kept props in the studio, such as radios, watches, scooters and suits, which clients could use to present themselves as modern and prosperous. Keïta usually used a large-format camera and natural light. He carefully arranged his subjects to make them look their best. After Mali gained independence in 1960, Keïta became an official photographer for the government and closed his studio.
In the 1990s, his negatives were brought to international attention, and exhibitions in Europe and America followed. His work was widely praised.
Recognition and Bamako in the 1950s
His photographs are now held in museum collections around the world, and he is regarded as one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century. He is often discussed alongside Malick Sidibé, another Bamako photographer famous for his images of youth and nightlife. The city was growing fast, and many residents were keen to present themselves as modern and stylish. A portrait from Keïta’s studio was a way to show off new clothes, new possessions and a confident image to relatives.
Seydou Keïta’s clients paid for portraits to give to their families. Without knowing it, they were sitting for some of the most admired photographs of their century.
