Malick Sidibé, 1936 - 2016

Malick Sidibé, Combat des amis avec pierres, 1976

Malick Sidibé died on 14 April 2016.

Malian photographer Malick Sidibé began taking photographs in the 1950s and soon established Studio Malick in Bamako. From the 1960s on he photographed the youth culture of newly independent Mali at parties and dances and in the calmer environment of his studio – a small cement room with a backdrop and a rug – 

Jehad Nga, Inside Malick Sidibé's Bamako studio

where his subjects would pose on motor bikes and Vespas and dress to the nines in a spectacular fusion of fashion styles.

Sidibe’s meticulous record keeping and hoarding of negatives and old cameras meant that when, after 30 years of work in Bamako, he was ‘discovered’ by the West there was a rich archive of his joyful pictures to publish.

Jehad Nga, Inside Malick Sidibé's Bamako studio

Read obituaries by Sean O’Hagan and Fayemi Shakur; read a fascinating interview with Sidibé from 2008, published in Lens Culture; see photo essay by Jehad Nga from which the pictures, above, of Sidibé's studio are taken.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Malick Sidibé, Toute la famille en moto, 1962

Malick Sidibé,Portrait d une Femme Attougee, 1969

Malick Sidibé

Malick Sidibé,Jeune homme avec pattes d’éléphant, sacoche et montre, 1977.

Malick Sidibé,Nuit de Noël, 1963

Malick Sidibé,Les jeunes bergers peulhs, 1972

Malick Sidibé

Malick Sidibé, Standing Ladies, 1975

Malick Sidibé,Vues de dos — Juin. 2003-4.