Seydou Keïta

Keïta was born in 1921 in Bamako, Mali, although the exact date is unknown. He was the oldest in a family of five children. His father Bâ Tièkòró and his uncle Tièmòkò were furniture makers. Keïta developed an interest in photography when his uncle gave him a Kodak Brownie with a film with eight shots in 1935, after returning from a trip to Senegal. In the beginning Keïta worked as both a carpenter and photographer, taking first portraits of his family and friends, later of people in the neighborhood. He learned photography and how to develop from Pierre Garnier, a French photographic supply store owner, and from Mountaga Traoré, his mentor. In 1948 he set up his first studio in the family house in Bamako-Koura behind the main prison.[1]

After acquiring studio space and a dark room, Keïta began shooting portraits of clients, and he eventually garnered a reputation for his style in both his photos and the way in which he shot his subjects.[2] In an interview with art curator André Magnin, Keïta describes his process and says that he showed his clients examples of previous portraits he had done, allowed them to pick a pose that they would like, and then he says “I suggested a position that was better suited for them, and in effect, I determined the good position. I was never wrong”.[3] Another aspect of Keïta’s style that led to his popularity as a portrait photographer was the “innovative use of props and backdrops” in all his photos.[4] Keïta was highly sought after by his clients not only for his signature style, but the culture and elegance that a photo of themselves stamped with the words “Photo SEYDOU KEÏTA” represented.[5]

Keïta died on 21 November 2001 in Paris.[6]

• Keïta, Seydou, André Magnin, and Youssouf Cissé. Seydou Keïta. Zurich: Scalo, 1997. ISBN 3-931141-46-2
• Lamunière, Michelle, Seydou Keita, and Malick Sidibé. You Look Beautiful Like That: The Portrait Photographs of Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé. Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums, 2001. ISBN 1-891771-20-5
• Seydou Keita: Photographs, Bamako, Mali 1948-1963. Göttingen: Steidl, 2011. ISBN 978-3-86930-301-7.

Keita's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: 8 items[20]
• Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri: 2 items[21][22]
• Minneapolis Institute of Art , Minneapolis, Minnesota: 6 items[23]

• Bell, Clare. In/sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, May 24-September 29, 1996. New York, N.Y: Guggenheim Museum, 1996. ISBN 0-8109-6895-9
• Enwezor, Okwui, and Gabriele Conrath-Scholl. Contemporary African Photography from the Walther Collection: Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity. Burlafingen: The Walther Collection, 2010. ISBN 978-3-86930-157-0

• Official website
• Interviews with Seydou Keïta and Françoise Huguier at the Wayback Machine (archived February 9, 1997).
• Seydou Keita: Contemporary African Art Collection.
• Sedyou Keita at Gallery51.
• The Ghosts of Seydou Keita: Audio Slideshow from the New York Times.
• Michael Rips (22 January 2006). "Who Owns Seydou Keïta?". The New York Times.
• "Seydou Keïta: The Theatre of Aspiration, with Jeremy Harding". London Review of Books (LRB).