ORIGINALLY SEALED COPY!
Statement by Malian photographer, Seydou KEITA
"It's easy to take a photo, but what really made a difference was that I always knew how to find the right position, and I never was wrong. Their head slightly turned, a serious face, the position of the hands. I was capable of making someone look really good. To have your photo taken was an important event. Often they became serious - I think they were intimidated by the camera. I always told them to remain relaxed. They began to like it. It took only about 10 minutes. (... ) In photography, everything should be as close to perfection as possible. After all, the customer is trying to look their very best. In Bamako we say i ka ny which translates as 'you look well,' but in fact it means 'you look beautiful like that.' Art is beautiful." (© Seydou KEITA)
Background information
"Seydou KEITA photographed the inhabitants of Bamako - the capital of Mali and his own birthplace - creating portraits of West Africans in the 1950s and 1960s. This collection of his work reveals his sense of composition and ability to capture the essence of a person. (...) What began as simple curiosity blossomed into an object of national pride; when Seydou KEITA bought a camera to take pictures of his family, neighbors assumed his services were for hire and enlisted him to take portraits of themselves and their homes, turning a carpenter into a photographer and a hobby into artistic expression. In such a way did the self-taught Seydou KEITA become the official photographer of Mali from 1962 to 1977, based almost solely on his impeccable reputation for quality and originality that developed by word of mouth. This stunning collection of 206 black-and white-portraits illustrates KEITA's pride in his country and his gift for capturing the personalities of his subjects. His aim was to create the most natural settings and poses for the people in front of the lens, putting them at ease and gently nudging them into surrendering their inhibitions. Seydou KEITA utilized a wide variety of props to further this goal, including bicycles, telephones, radios, and musical instruments. He also kept a variety of clothing on hand--both traditional and European - to help his subjects achieve a desired look or style. What comes across most clearly in these photos is the beauty of the people; Seydou KEITA brilliantly exposes their essence by focusing on their images." (© Scalo Verlag, 1997)
About Malian photographer, Seydou KEITA (1923-2001)
Photo books and catalogues on the work of Seydou KEITA
- Ed(s)/Author(s)
- Youssouf Tata Cissé
- Book design
- Hans Werner HOLZWARTH
- Format
- HC with dust jacket, 24 x 30 x 3 cm., 288 pp., highly b/w illustrated, text language: English