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About the Malian photographer, Seydou KEITA (1923-2001)
Along with Malick SIDIBÉ, Seydou KEITA is considered one of the most important photographers in Africa. He is best known for his portraits of people & families, which he took between 1940 and the early 1960s. His images document Malian society and are internationally recognized as works of art. After apprenticing as a carpenter with his father and uncle (from whom he received his first camera in 1935), he opened his own studio in Bamako in 1948; the focus was on commissioned portraits. In 1962, with Mali's independence, he joined the civil service as a 'civil servant photographer'. In 1991, the first exhibition of his photographs took place in New York City - initially still classified as 'unknown'. Thanks to the research of André Magnin, KEITA was identified as the author, and his oeuvre was subsequently received internationally: at festivals, exhibitions and in publications, such as magazines and in book form.