Keïta

Keïta Seydou (1921-2001). African photographer from Mali. Born to a large family, at the age of 14 he received a Kodak Brownie camera and became interested in photography. He was also taught to print in black-and-white by a photographer in Bamako, the town where he lived and worked as a carpenter. In 1948 he opened his own portrait studio and in 1962 was appointed the official photographer of Mali. That same year his fame moved beyond Mali’s borders, first at the joint exhibition “African Explores” at the Center for African Arts in New York, then in 1994 at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, and two years later with the retrospective at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. His black-and-white portraits have an extraordinary elegance: men and, above all, women wrapped in their very beautiful drapings become a tribute to the art of being and looking, because, as the photographer himself says, the best poses are those chosen by the subjects, and “when we say ‘I ka nyé tan‘ many translate it as ‘you look good here’, but the real meaning is ‘you are beautiful just the way you are.'” His subjects stand out against very colored backgrounds in his studio and are defined by the objects, accessories, cars, radios, medals, and hats that describe their taste. From this point of view, Keïta, who escaped the destiny of most African photographers of ending up as a photo-journalist, is an author that, through his portraits, talks about fashion and the way of being a member of his people.