Images like these don’t tell the entire story. Mr Keita’s work remained hidden, locked away- buried in his back yard actually, since he was suppressed from doing what he loved after Mali’s independence.
First colonialization, then his own government. The Keita studio recycled props and used breathtakingly what was at hand. His subjects portrayed personal choice for their sittings, and “defined themselves at the uneven edge of modernity”. Keita’s photography shows a natural vibrancy and resiliency that transcended continents and ironically sustains the saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
“Many people call themselves photographers nowadays, but they don’t know anything.”
-Seydou Keita
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~ by shantam on October 31, 2007.
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Tags: 'Girls on Bike', abstract, Academia, Academic discourse/critique, African Art/Photography, African self-taught photographer, Anthologies, arabesque cloths, art, Art History, Artforum, Authenticity, Bamaku-Mali, black&white photography, Bohemian, capitalism, Cartier Foundation, Chelsea, colonialism, Contemporary African Art/Photography, contemporary art, controversy, corruption, disparate collection of voices, dissemination of images, erotica, European world view, exhibitions, exploitation, fine art, forgery, Fotografos, Francoise Huguier, French Bourgeoisie, Gagosian Art Gallery, genius, histories of photography, human history, ideas, Indigenista Movement, journaling, Mali, Mali Independence/Revolution, Malian community, Media, Missionary work to justify Colonialism, museum, paradox, Philosophy, photographic portraiture, Photography, photojournalism, Postmodern approach, psychology, race, racism, regional cultures, scholarly analysis, Sean Kelly Gallery, Seydou Keita, SoHo Gallery, Symbolist, technology of photography, thoughts, tribal African costumes/dress, vernacular modernism, Vuillard, West Africa, writing, Xhosa men
