User:TIGRA242/Seydou Keïta

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Seydou Keita (1921 — 21 November 2001) is one of Mali, and indeed Africa’s famed photographer whose unique approach and works rightly immortalize. Widely known for his portraits of families which struck the world as great fine art and establish him in Mali and beyond, Keita lived a story that tells that of the possibilities in talent and passion, and inspired many.

A little controversy surrounds Seydou Keita’s date of birth; he is commonly being paraded as born sometimes in 1920, 1921, or 19231, as the first of five children to Bâ Tièkòró, a furniture maker in the modest city of Bamako in Mali. He grew up to get practical skills and orientation from his father, and became a furniture maker earlier in his life. His interest in photography was kindled sometimes in 1935, with some accounting attributing that to the gifting of a camera brought from Senegal to him by his uncle, Tièmòkò, also a furniture maker; other accounts say Keita bought the camera1. Whichever way, the young man’s fascination with his new possession with which he first began to photograph his family, friends, and people from the neighborhood with soon got recognized.

Keita spent time with Pierre Garnier, who owns photographic supply shop, and entered into mentorship relationship with Mountaga Traoré. He realized there was greater potentials in his photography than furniture, and soon tilted towards the former, opening his own studio in 1948, using his family house.2

2 Olu Oguibe, “Seydou Keita (review)”Journal of Contemporary African Art, Number 8, Spring/Summer 1998, p. 65 (Review), Accesible on 1

Keita’s presence in photography in Mali melted the longstanding reluctance of the blacks to get photographed due to fear of losing their identity; the whites had had problems convincing the blacks to take photos1. But with Keita, it was different; he was one of them, apart from also having the skills to pull off the best shots- a single shot. He often took single shots, for economic reasons, but took it so perfectly that his shop swelled with people trooping in from all over; men and women admiring themselves in European wears which were beginning to gain popularity among the Malians3. He himself would later comment that he naturally knew the best posture at a sight. He provided the props, although some clients brought theirs1. Seydou Keita’s popularity in Mali and beyond inspired his designation as the official photographer of the Republic of Mali, a duty for which he resigned his studio works in 19623. He however kept both passion and records – black-and-white images he had taken. He continued in government service until 1977 when he retired. By then, his fame was firmly established2.

His art- in photographs – entered Europe and America in the 1990s following rediscovery by Contemporary African Art Collection’s André Magnin. The portraits circulated exhibition shows in U.S and Paris; a book of those photographs was compiled and published in 1977. In 2001, the same year he died in Paris, a foundation named after him was founded in Bamako, his home city, to his memory and to inspire next generation African Artists3.

Karen Sparks, “Seydou Keita”, in Encyclopedia Britannica.

2

In his lifetime, Keita’s featured in solo exhibitions as the 2001 Flash Afrique in Germany; he also feautured in group exhibitions as 1996: African Photographers, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA4. Seydou Keita is no doubt truly one of Africa’s great, and rightly, he is regarded as father of African Photography 2. His fame came from his unlearnt ability to make the perfect portrait, and this brought him to national and international history. Keita has featured in many exhibitions, and his art remains in use today for tourist entertainment and to inspire younger photographers.

Keïta died in 2001 in Paris.