The Portrait of Mali

Malick Sidibé documented Mali's youth culture and Bamako's nightlife in the years immediately after the African nation's independence. By documenting Bamako’s youth culture and its social clubs—with names like The Sputniks or Black Socks, to indicate specific music tastes—and the flamboyant style of the suave rock ‘n’ roll fans, Sidibé is credited with revealing a different image of life in West Africa, which was a contrast to stereotypical images of Africans seen in the West. “For me, photography is all about youth,” he famously told an interviewer. “It’s about a happy world full of joy, not some kid crying on a street corner or a sick person.” The sense of joy and freedom his photographs so elegantly convey, and the insouciance of post-colonial Bamako, will remain the definitive visual documents of what in hindsight seem like golden years.

CONDITION: Very good.