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Jour de fête de les trois amis, 1975-2009. Gelatin silver print. 60 x 60cm.

 

Mademoiselle Assitan et ses deux camarades, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 60 x 60 cm.

Une petite famille segauvienne, 1965-2009. Gelatin silver print. 60 x 60 cm.

La petite famille jour de fête, 1971-2009. Gelatin silver print. 60 x 60 cm.

Mselle Sira Bambo, 1964-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Madame Rokia Saugaré, 1965-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Soireé jeunesse R.D.A. Dravelila, 1963-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Avec ma saco tre-collier bracele, 1965-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Photo soirée lyceé thecnique. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Soirée femesse R.D.A., 1963-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Je me regase maintenant, 1964-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Photo soirée La Aristos, 1963-2009. Gelatin silver print, 48 x 48 cm.

Bal sous officiers au mess, 1962-2009. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Soirée Las Vegas dez Kamissoko, 1964-2009. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Soirée, 1962-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Jeunesee R.D.A. Dravelila, 1963-2009. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Madame Zana et ses deux camarades, 1979-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Surprise party Bamako Loura, 1962-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Soirée Marriage Kalifa Pa Las Vegas, 1964-2009. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Surprise party, 1964-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Bal jeunesse R.D.A., 1963-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Madame Touch Sidibé, 1968-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Bal des Aristos, 1963-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Le petite famille, 1970-2009. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Le trois amis, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Jeune couple, 1976-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Madame Barry, 1968-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

A trois, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Monsieur Bath et sa famille, 1976-2009. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Avec ma tresse, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Mademoiselle Nah Sissoko et sa petite amie, 1968-2008. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Les deux amis nigerieus, 1971.2008. Gelatina de plata. 48 x 48 cm.

Nous deux, 1979-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

De profil avec ma robe courte, 1968-2008. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Monsieur Saugaré et son camarade, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Mademoiselle Durnrou Saugaré, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Famille Bath. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

A deux por la meme femme, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Les deux amies, 1971-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Avec ses deux soeurs, 1978-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Moi Seul, 1969-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Devant mon faux bâtiment, 1976-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Madame Ramatou, 1971-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Surprise party Aristos. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Monsieur Simpara et ses camarades, 1971-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Madame Clreckina, 1974-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Le trois camarades, 1968-2009. Gelatin silver print. 48 x 48 cm.

Malick Sidibé
Bamako Style
May 27 - July 18, 2009

“During the seventies the Europeans believed that we were living naked in the trees. However, in the other hand we were as trendy as them”. Malick Sidibé ironic is talking like that about his portraits. This series of photographs agree, which have never been showed in Spain before, and much of them are unknown. They were taken at the beginnings of the sixties and seventies, and they are showing images of Mali just reached the independence of France, they were years full of hope and life. They are photographs of boys with sunglasses, elephant- leg jeans and girls dressed with colourful typical dresses, bags in the arm and sometimes even with a short skirt. In the parties they were possible to find a record player and James Brown songs. Malick photographs are the portrait of a country which is trying to become modern without forgetting its own tradition.

Malick Sidibé had the first contact with photography in 1955, when he began to work in Bamako in the studio of Gérard Guillat-Guignard, known in the city as “Gégé la pelicule”. In 1962 Malick opened his own studio in the area of Bagadadji and he will never close it. If the other well known African photograph, Seidou Keïta, is famous for his studio portraits, at the beginning of his activity Malick captures Bamako’s nights: after the independence the city wants to celebrate it.

Malick goes to the parties organized by the young people, worn like occidental ones, and dance. There’s no event that he is not invited: if he can’t assist, the hour or even the day has to be changed. In the middle seventies he decided to stop his work on the parties or on the riverside and he continues to make photographs in his studio.

In fact this kind of portraits, the studio ones, will be the biggest corpus in his files: thousands and thousands of negatives Malick keeps classified in old Kodak boxes. Sidibé explains: “I don’t like people who is coming to my studio and is staying unmoved as a mummy as it used to be before”. Because of that, since always, Sidibé use to choose the positions. Some years ago appeared in Malick study some objects that helped the artist to recreate the specific style: coloured and painting walls following the African tradition, but also cigarette to be taken behind the lips as the Hollywood stars, women bags or even a motorcycle. “Someone who is going to be portrayed wants to be handsome. Is the work of the photographer to make that happen”, he says. Maybe because of that, Sidibé's portraits communicate energy and enjoyment: their characters are almost always smiling. Malick photographs are a metaphor of the happiness and joyful of life.