Baptême chez Jafuna

Malick Sidibé Malian

Not on view

In the decades before and after Mali achieved independence from France in 1960, Sidibé operated a highly regarded commercial photography studio in the capital city of Bamako and made thousands of portraits for a burgeoning middle class. His work first came to the attention of the art world in 1995, when the Paris-based Fondation Cartier exhibited his lively images of Bamako youth taken at parties and Sunday picnics. This print of two women looking at a picture and a stylish young man directly addressing the camera—while all three are "nonchalantly" arranged in pyramidal composition—highlights the self-consciousness and skill with which Sidibé and his subjects represented themselves to the contemporary world.

Baptême chez Jafuna, Malick Sidibé (Malian, Soloba 1936–2016 Bamako), Gelatin silver print

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