You Look Beautiful Like That: The Portrait Photographs of Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé

"Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe, two commercial photographers from Mali, took mesmerizing portraits in Bamako, the capital, during the period before and after the country achieved independence from France in 1960. This book presents a range of these portraits as well as excerpts from recent interviews with the artists and an essay placing their work in the context of the history of portrait photography in West Africa since its beginnings in the 1840s." These photographs are the work of Africans controlling the camera to create images of African subjects for an African audience. For both photographers the studio was a theater in which to coordinate costumes, lighting, props, and poses to help the subjects define themselves. Keita adapted the formulas of portrait photography to make unique images that reflect both his clients' social identity within the community and their enthusiastic embrace of modernity. Later, as portrait conventions and societal roles became more flexible, Sidibe's subjects took an even more active part in constructing the images they wanted to convey. In Bambara, the language widely spoken in Mali, there is an expression, i ka nye tan, which means "you look beautiful like that." Keita's and Sidibe's protraits flatter the sitters, presenting them in the best possible light.