Mid-century Mali: Images of Seydou Keita

Seydou Keita, Untitled 1952-1956

Mid-century modern references from American and European art and design have saturated Western visual culture in the last decade, but how often do we see the aesthetics of this transformative era in other cultures around the world? The Guardian’s recent profile of Malian photographer Seydou Keita features beautiful images taken in the west African nation of Mali in the 1950’s that capture the radiance and optimism of the time thousands of miles away from the world of Mad Men. Photographing his subjects outdoors, illuminated by sunlight and often placed in front of dramatic, patterned backdrops, Keita’s black and white portraits positively glow. Like so many American images from the 1950’s, the subjects are endearingly self-conscious, posing in carefully chosen outfits, their eyes sparkling with the thrill of being photographed.

Taken in the last years of French control over Mali, Keita’s photos depict a surprisingly recognizable mid-century moment. The balance between severity and abundance in the tailoring of clothes, the blend of formality and candor in facial expressions and posture, the inclusion of consumer goods to signal affluence - these are the same visual themes we find in post-war American portraiture in the 1950’s, resonant on the streets of Bamako.

Apart from the aesthetics of the era, Keita’s work is worthwhile for its simple beauty. These are technically gorgeous images that capture the richness of skin tone, pattern, and texture with balance and great energy. In our age of hyper-disposable digital imagery, there is something truly special about the joyful tension of manual portraiture - subject and photographer unsure of what the moment between them will ultimately be; creating something invisible together. And Keita’s technique was even more “manual” and uncertain than most - to work around a broken shutter, he reportedly exposed his film by removing the camera’s lens cap by hand.

As snapshots of a turning point in visual and cultural history, Seydou Keita’s work is a fascinating look at Mali’s mid-century experience. As photographs of men and women glowing with joy and pride and spirit under the Bamako sun, they are something even more satisfying - timeless artifacts of human emotion, enduring and utterly lovely.