In Memoriam: Malick Sidibé (1936 – 2016)

4 minute read

Away from the formalities of conventional portrait photography, away from the clichés of colonialism imagery, Malick Sidibé’s pictures of Mali’s youth conveyed the high-spirited feeling of a country that has just gained its independence. Over the years, his black-and-white pictures have influenced many of his contemporaries in Africa and beyond. Now, almost 60 years after he first opened a photography studio in Bamako, Sidibé has died of complications of diabetes, the Associated Press reports. He was 80.

“It’s a great loss for Mali. He was part of our cultural heritage,” said Mali’s culture minister N’Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo, according to The Guardian. “ The whole of Mali is in mourning.”

“A witness of his country’s effervescent independence, and among the young folk besotted with music, Malick Sidibé photographed the parties and joys of Bamako,” French culture minister Audrey Azoulay added in a statement. “A master of portraiture, he showered his studio’s visitors with his kind and benevolent gaze. I send my heartfelt condolences to his relatives.”

Born to a peasant family in what was then French Sudan in 1935 or 1936, he left his shepherding duties at the age of 10, to study at a colonial school at which he was one of very few non-white students. His artistic talent was quickly noticed and he won a place at École des Artisans Soudanais in Bamako in 1952. The course of his career changed when he was approached by society photographer Gérard Guillat, who asked him to become his apprentice.

While working at the studio, Sidibé cycled to nightclubs in Bamako in the evenings, photographing party-goers with his first camera, a Brownie Flash. He became known as “the Eye of Bamako,” famous for his documentary-style photography that offered a rare glimpse into African youth culture, from concerts to nightclubs to sports events. With the coming of Malian independence in 1960, those images took on a deeper layer of meaning.

Malick Sidibé - Les "Happy Boys", Feb. 25, 1963
Les "Happy Boys", Feb. 25, 1963Malick Sidibe—Courtesy Gallery FIFTY ONE

“We were entering a new era, and people wanted to dance,” Sidibé once said. “Music freed us. Suddenly, young men could get close to young women, hold them in their hands. Before, it was not allowed. And everyone wanted to be photographed dancing up close.”

His incommensurable work spanning six decades — currently showing at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York — gained the international recognition it deserved in 2003 when he received the prestigious Hasselblad Award and four years later when La Biennale di Venezia awarded him the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award. He was the first photographer to have received this distinction.

“For many people who know something about photography — Africans and non-Africans alike — Malick Sidibé’s work was the very embodiment of African photography. In part this is because of the profound humanistic spirit of his images and the spark and originality of his vision,” says John Edwin Mason, a writer and professor of African History at the University of Virginia. Though many westerners may have been fired drawn in by the idea that Sidibé’s work was exotic or “unsettling,” in some ways, Mason says, they would soon find just the opposite to be true. “Ultimately, however, [audiences] have embraced the ways in which Sidibé’s photographs confirm our shared humanity.”

“He reminded me so much of my own father which is why I think I spent time with him,” says Jehad Nga, a photographer who became friends with Sidibé after they met in 2011. “We sat once and went through one of his books, which is a chronicle of Mali’s history. Like every book he shared with me, it took hours to get through it. At every page, he would stop and light up while telling the story behind the frame. Frame by frame, he recalled who and where. He would pore over it as if seeing it for the first time.”

Inside the Photographer’s Studio: Malick Sidibe

The following photographs were taken in Bamako, Mali in March 2013. A curtain used as a backdrop hangs in Malick Sidibe's Bamako studio. The curtain has been in use since the opening of the studio in 1960 and never has been replaced. Many of Sidibe's most famous photographs feature the backdrop.Jehad Nga for TIME
A view from inside Malick Sidibe's now cluttered and dusty Bamako studio. Virtually nothing has been thrown away over the years from the studio including broken cameras and studio equipment.Jehad Nga for TIME
Malick Sidibe's photo enlarger now out of use sits in a corner of the photographer's Bamako home.Jehad Nga for TIME
Inside Malick Sidibe's Bamako studio, a strobe lighting system has been updated to accomidate his son Kareem's job as an I.D. photographer.Jehad Nga for TIME
Equipment piles up in all corners inside Malick Sidibe's Bamako home and studio.Jehad Nga for TIME
On the patio of Malick Sidibe's Bamako studio, photographs taken by Sidibe as well as ones featuring him over the years decorate a wooden wall.Jehad Nga for TIME
Inside Malick Sidibe's home, a huge archive of negatives sits piled up and unprotected. Sidibe and his sons are trying to find people to help them begin to digitally archive his work before much of it is ruined by moisture and dust.Jehad Nga for TIME
Samba Sidibe (Malick's younger brother) sits on the floor surrounded by old studio equipment and film negatives in Malick's bedroom.Jehad Nga for TIME
Inside Malick Sidibe's Bamako studio, a collection of Sidibe's old cameras takes up an entire wall.Jehad Nga for TIME
Malick Sidibe sits in his bed in his Bamako home. With temperatures rising to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat take its toll on the aging Sidibe. His younger brother Samba and his sons help keep him cool using a hand fan.Jehad Nga for TIME

Up until his last days, Sidibé lived and worked in the same one-room studio, welcoming any and all visitors and surrounded by his family and neighbors, “light years from the art centers of the world,” as Nga wrote in 2014. And, Nga tells TIME, Sidibé still had big plans for the future. Recently, he shared his ideas for a new book based off of old works.

Sidibé, who leaves behind three wives and 17 children, will be buried in his natal village, Soloba.

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Malick Sidibé
Nuit de Noël (Happy Club)Malick Sidibe—Courtesy Gallery FIFTY ONE
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Jeune Fille avec, 1970/2004.
Jeune Fille avec, 1970/2004.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Mr. Cissé le pharmacien, 1973, 2001.
Mr. Cissé le pharmacien, 1973, 2001.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Les deux amis au cours d'une soirée populaire, 1968-2008.
Les deux amis au cours d'une soirée populaire, 1968-2008.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Sur les rochers au bord du fleuve Niger, 1971-2008.
Sur les rochers au bord du fleuve Niger, 1971-2008.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Couple de danseurs de Beatles — Club Bagadadji, 1966-2008.
Couple de danseurs de Beatles — Club Bagadadji, 1966-2008.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Les faux agents, 1973-2008.
Les faux agents, 1973-2008.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Les Motorcyclistes, 2002.
Les Motorcyclistes, 2002.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Surprise Party, 2002.
Surprise Party, 2002.Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, Yéyé en position, 1963.
Yéyé en position, 1963.Malick Sidibe—Courtesy Gallery FIFTY ONE
Photograph by Malick Sidibe, 1st Mai — Saute, 1972/2004.
1st Mai — Saute, 1972/2004.©Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

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