Seydou Keïta (ca. 1921-2001), now regarded as the father of African photography, ran a busy studio in Bamako, Mali (French Sudan until 1960) from 1948 to 1963, a period of radical transformation from rural to urban, colonial to postcolonial, both in that country and in Africa as a whole. The thousands of people Keita photographed during those years represented all segments of Malian society, including Bamako’s cultural elite, ordinary citizens, nomads, students, and military officers.
While Keita did style his subjects—fanning a skirt here, adjusting a hand position there, even providing European clothing, watches, motorcycles, cars, and radios as props—he also encouraged them to be active participants in the process. The popularity of his studio among the people of Bamako depends largely on his skill in presenting his works and allowing them to appear the way he wishes: elegant, cosmopolitan and, above all, modern.
In 1963, Keita was forced by Mali’s post-independence socialist government to close his studio and began working as its official photographer. In 1991, his studio portraits were exhibited anonymously in the West for the first time in a group show at the Museum of African Art in New York; a subsequent solo show at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 1994—prints made from negatives shipped from Mali to France—was a sensation, sparking interest in Keita’s work and African photography in general. As international fame came, more new prints were created, both during Keita’s lifetime and after his death. Larger in size and cooler in tone than the original photographs, they are now how most contemporary viewers experience Keita’s images.
For Western scholars and curators, Keita’s photographs – which coincide with the eve and early years of Mali’s independence – are both captivating portraits of self-defining individuals and important documents of African life at a moment of transition. For Keita’s Malian clients, the photos mean much more than that. Pocket-sized and intended for personal use, they symbolized worldly success, commemorated special events and holidays, assisted matchmakers, and even served as talismans.
The exhibition “Seydou Keïta: Tactile Lenses,” currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum, focuses on this latter aspect of Keïta’s photographs, emphasizing the role of self-fashioning in his creation. Organized by guest curator Catherine E. McKinley and Imani Williford, the museum’s curatorial assistant for photography, fashion, and material culture, the exhibition features more than 200 photographs, including negatives and vintage prints, as well as examples of clothing, jewelry, and textiles. The exhibition runs until March 8, and here’s a guide to Keita’s five major works.
-
Untitled1956
Image source: Courtesy of the Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art and Danziger Gallery, New York.
Keita was born between 1921 and 1923 in Bamako, then the capital of French Sudan and later Mali, which gained independence in 1960. At age 14, his uncle gave him his first camera; in his twenties, while working as a carpenter, he apprenticed to Mountaga Dembélé (1919-2004), the first black photographer to own a successful photo studio in Bamako. In 1948, Keita opened his own studio in front of the home where he and his extended family lived. He often ran out of unfinished film to take photos of himself, his wife, children, and relatives (like the tender self-portrait above).
-
Untitled1949–51
Image source: Copyright © SKPEAC/Seydou Keïta. Courtesy of the Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art and Danziger Gallery, New York.
While the identities of most of his subjects are unknown, the model was a close friend of Keita’s and, along with him, was part of a well-dressed group of men known as “gentlemen.” He was holding a child on his lap and was wearing West African men’s clothing, including drawstring trousers, shirt and BubuA style of robe, often with ornate embroidery, that is still widely seen in the region. While European clothing and fabrics were favored by wealthy Malians before World War II, during the independence era Bubu Became a symbol of silent resistance to French colonialism. In the background, however, are the French damask sheets of Keita’s own bedroom.
-
Untitled1954
Image source: Copyright © SKPEAC/Seydou Keïta. Courtesy of the Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art and Danziger Gallery, New York.
One of the props Keita provided to his clients was his beloved Peugeot 203, one of the only two cars left in Bamako and the other belonging to colonial governor Edmond Louveau. The right front bumper of the car shows Keita himself, standing behind his camera and tripod. Just as mid-century photographer Lee Friedlander often incorporated his own shadow or reflection into his photographs of American life, Keita here positions himself as part of the social milieu he documents.
-
Untitled1953–57
Image source: Copyright © SKPEAC/Seydou Keïta. Courtesy of the Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art and Danziger Gallery, New York.
This portrait, one of Keita’s most iconic photographs, in which the solemn subject is almost lost in a series of competing patterns, is a study of opposing cultural markers. While the plaid blanket on which she reclines is African, the richly patterned fabric behind her is likely European. And, despite her flowery attire Bubu The carnelian beads were traditional, her watch was new, and her headpiece was a scarf hanging low on one side de Gaulletoday’s fashion trends.
-
Untitledlate 1940s to mid-1970s
Image source: Courtesy of the Seydou Keïta family.
In this photo, probably taken after Keita closed his studio, a young woman sports a bold afro, towering platform shoes, and a watch with a wide strap and an oversized dial. By the 1960s, a new generation of Malians began to mature and became critical of their elders’ fascination with imported goods. But ironically, in the 1960s and 1970s, they in turn were attracted to African-American and British music, dance and clothing. This is in direct contrast to the emphasis placed on traditional values by Mali’s post-independence socialist government and its post-1968 military regime. Their youthful rebellious spirit was later commemorated by Keita’s disciple, photographer Malick Sidibé (1935-2016) and others.
