Photo of the Week #304
Malick Sidibé
Soirée marriage Drissa Balo, 1965–1972
Gelatin silver print (printed 1998)
Image size: 14 ⅜ × 9 ½ in
Frame size: 21 ⅞ × 16 ½ in
Untitled (Portrait of Two Malian Men), c. 1969-79
Vintage gelatin silver print in hand-painted frame
Frame painted c. 2003
Image size: 6 ⅜ × 4 ¼ in
Framed size: 16 ⅞ × 12 ⅝ in
Untitled, 1971
Vintage gelatin silver print in hand-painted frame
Image size: 6 ½ × 4 ¼ in
Framed: 15 ¾ × 11 ½ in
Frame painted c. 2003
Malick Sidibe
Il ne veut pas photo, c. 1969-79
Vintage gelatin silver print in hand-painted frame
Image size: 6 ⅜ × 4 ¼ in
Frame size: 16 ⅞ × 12 ⅝ in
Frame painted c. 2003
C’est pas ma faute, 2010
Gelatin silver print
31 × 22 in
Malick Sidibé is known for his body of work documenting the cultural and social life of his native Mali, as it transitioned to independence after a long history as a French colony. He did a brisk business as a portrait photographer in the 1960s and ’70s, both at his shop Studio Malick, and at local social events.Many of his prints are presetned in vibrant hand-painted frames that were made by an artisan named Checkna Touré, who ran his own shop near Studio Malick for a number of decades. Hsi work celebrates the point in Mali's history when it was simultaneously embracing its West African ancestry as well as the freedom of a self-determined future.