Malick Sidibé
Photography (collection) • 8m 34s
Directed by Susan Vogel • Documentary • 2006 • 8 minutes
Malick Sidibé started out as a local photographer in Bamako, Mali. After independence in 1960, his snazzy studio portraits and party shots captured the buoyant optimism of a new nation. Today they are recognized internationally as masterpieces, and Malick is world famous.
This short but sweet film looks at the work of the renowned African artist whose photographs have documented Malian society over a forty-year period. In an interview, this self-taught photographer, now seventy years old, describes how his photography answered a desire for immortality, discusses his views of photography as a "social art form" and explains his documentary and portrait techniques, including methods of putting his subjects at ease and "giving life to the image." Another scene gives us a rare look at the photographer at work his studio, placing his subjects in stylized poses while he quickly deploys humor and flattery in the service of his art.
MALICK SIDIBE showcases many of his best known photos, especially those documenting Malian youth culture in the Sixties, including portraits of youngsters posing in the era's 'hip' fashions and his energetic images of Malian teenagers enjoying the latest dance crazes.
This short film will serve as a useful introduction to a photographer whose body of work, writes Index Magazine, is "characterized by acute observation, perfect timing and an infinite love for its subjects."
Up Next in Photography (collection)
-
Searching For Gerda Taro
Directed by Camille Ménager • Documentary • 2021 • 58 minutes
SEARCHING FOR GERDA TARO celebrates the life and work of Taro — a charismatic Jewish refugee from Germany, an anti-fascist, and a trailblazing photographer whose work would be forgotten for decades.
In 1935, Taro (then going by her b...
-
The Woodmans
Directed by C. Scott Willis • Documentary • With Betty Woodman, Francesca Woodman, Charles Woodman George Woodman • 2010 • 83 minutes
The tragic story of Francesca Woodman, a young photographer renowned for her extraordinary nude self-portraits, is also the story of her brilliantly artistic fami...
-
Artists & Love: Lee Miller and Man Ray
Directed by Stéphanie Colaux and Delphine Deloget • Documentary • 2019 • 26 minutes
This documentary series tells the story of intimate and tumultuous love stories in the context of art history. Each of the couples in this collection answer the same questions: is love compatible with creation? C...