Seidou Keita

I was just given a book of Seidou Keita’s photographs and I feel like writing a little something about this very lovely photographer from Bamako, who started with taking pictures of his family, neighbours, people he encountered in his everyday life. Until he set up a studio where he met his clients. The light he used was the very pure light of Sahel and you feel by looking at his wonderful pictures that Seidou Keita shared a deep intimacy with his subjects.

I also like how he emphasized very naturally the flesh tones, the jewels and garments. His pictures are wonderfully constructed scenes and also gorgeous portraits of shopkeepers, office clerks, barbers, families . . . all sorts of people who just wanted their picture taken.

I really like what he said in an interview:

In those days, the culture of the ancestors was not as strong as it used to be. City dwellers dressed up like Europeans, very influenced by the French behaviour. But not many people could afford to dress like that. At the studio, I had three different European suits with tie, shirt, shoes, hat, as well as some accessories: fountain pen, plastic flowers, radio set or telephone that I lent to customers.

For ladies, the dresses had not deeply changed yet. Western garments like skirts have been in fashion only in the late sixties. Women would come with their large dress and I arranged it: the more it was spread, the happier they were. The outfits had to show out in the picture: jewels were important as well as hands, long thin fingers; women were very concerned by that, they were signs of elegance and beauty.

I never met any foreign photographer. I never went out and I didn’t know their photographs as well. One could not find here any French or American magazines. The only publication available was the Manufrance catalogue.

He adds later in this interview that he stopped photography when colour photography took over.