Bamako photographer Malick Sidibe ́). Although
there are several stories related to the discovery of
Keı ̈ta, a 1991 exhibitionAfrica Explores: Twentieth
Century African Artat the Museum of African Art
in New York proved crucial in bringing his work to
the attention of the international art world. French
curator of contemporary African art Andre ́Magnin
relates the story of seeing Keı ̈ta’s portraits in that
exhibition. Although Keı ̈ta was uncredited, in 1993
Magnin tracked him down in Bamako with the help
of photographer Franc ̧oise Huguier, and gained
access to tens of thousands of negatives covering
the period from 1948 to 1962, which now form the
only available source of Keı ̈ta’s work (negatives
from 1935 to 1947 have been lost).
In 1994, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art con-
temporain (Cartier Foundation for Contemporary
Art) in Paris organised a one-man exhibition as part
of the ‘Mois de la Photo’ in Paris, which brought
Keı ̈ta’s work to the attention of both specialists and
the general public. Since this time, his work has
been shown all over the world. Andre ́ Magnin’s
monograph Seydou Keita (Scalo, 1997) further
popularised his work, and Keı ̈ta even came out of
retirement to photograph fashion for magazines
such asHarper’s Bazaarin 1998.
Keı ̈ta’s photographs have been displayed in the
West as large exhibition prints to meet the formal
demands of the art gallery. This dramatic recasting
of their original form and function has given the
images a new life. However, it is important to
remember their original postcard size, as intimate
documents at the threshold between private and
public life, shared between friends, lovers, and
family. For contemporary Western viewers, the for-
mal beauty of the black-and-white studio portrai-
ture and Keı ̈ta’s lack of exposure to Western
publications gives them a freshness of vision. More
strikingly, the images attract because of the digni-
fied poses of the sitters, and their clear desire to cast
themselves in the manner in which they wished to be
defined. Although the names and professions of
many of the sitters have been lost, their aspirations
are communicated in a way that makes them emo-
tionally and visually compelling. In contrast to
photographs produced by Western observers, Keı ̈-
ta’s portraits are the result of an African photogra-
pher controlling the camera to create images of
African subjects for an African audience. Thus, in
Keı ̈ta’s photographs, Bamako is imagined as the
city at the birth of modernity in West Africa.
DanielPalmerSeealso:Photography in Africa: Central and West;
Portraiture
Biography
Born Bamako, Mali, c. 1921. Given first camera aged 14,
but no official training in photography. Began photo-
graphing professionally in 1939, and opened portrait
photography studio in Bamako in 1948. Made thou-
sands of commercial portraits in the period 1948–1962.
Became Mali’s official photographer following indepen-
dence from the French in 1962, covering its first 15 years
of independent rule. Retired in 1977, but rediscovered by
the Western art world to great acclaim in the 1990s. Died
Paris, November 22, 2001, while undergoing treatment
for cancer.Selected Individual Exhibitions
1994 Seydou Keı ̈ta: Portraits de 1949 a` 1964 , Fondation
Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
1995 Seydou Keı ̈ta, Centre Nationale de la Photographie,
Paris
1996 Seydou Keı ̈ta, photographer: Portraits from Bamako,
Mali, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.
2001 Seydou Keı ̈ta, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
Seydou Keı ̈ta: Portraits from Mali, Presentation House
Gallery, North Vancouver, Canada
2002 Mali Portraits by Seydou Keı ̈ta, The William Benning-
ton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs,
ConnecticutSelected Group Exhibitions
1993 24th Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie,
Arles, France
1994 Premie`res Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine, Ba-
mako, Mal
1995 Big City Artists from Africa, Serpentine Gallery, London
Self Evident, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
1996 In/sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present,
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
1997 Seydou Keı ̈ta and Malik Sidibe ́, Fruitmarket Gallery,
Edinburgh
Trade Routes: History and Geography: 2nd Johannesburg
Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa
1998 Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros: XXIV
Bienal de Sa ̃o Paolo,Sa ̃o Paolo
1999 L’Afrique Independente, Partobject Gallery, Carrboro,
North Carolina
2000 Africa: Past-Present: Malick Sidibe ́, Seydou Keita, P.
K. Apagya, Depara, C.A.Azaglo and Ojeikere, Fifty One
Fine Art Photography, Antwerp, Belgium
2001 You Look Beautiful Like That: The Portrait Photographs
of Seydou Keı ̈ta and Malick Sidibe ́,TheFoggArt
Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge,
Massachusetts and traveled to UCLA Armand Hammer
Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
XVI International Video and Multimedia Arts Festi-
val, Muse ́e d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris,
France
2002 Portraits of Pride—Seydou Keı ̈ta, Malick Sidibe ́and
Samuel Fosso, Galleri Enkehuset, Stockholm
The Short Century: Liberation and Independence
Movements in Africa, 1945–1994, P.S.1 Contemporary
Art Center, Long Island City, New York and travelingKEI ̈TA, SEYDOU