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Malick Sidibé: Deutsche Ausgabe
Book by Magnin, Andre, Schwarzenbach, Alexis
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 12, 2021
Malick Sidibé is most known for his studio portraits of the fashionable inhabitants of Bamako, Mali, but he also fervently documented it’s nightlife. This book is a perfect testament for how swinging the 60’s and 70’s were in Bamako. The movements fly of the pages, Malick perfectly captured the sense of freedom found in the music and the dancing.
The book also features a list with club names. Apparently members of each club would identify each other by the way they wore their clothes. Sidibé happily mingled in this night scene, aside from working in his studio. And it was a big success, he would visit 5 different parties in one night sometimes, working till early in the morning.
"At night, from midnight to 4 am or 6 am, I went from one party to another. I could go to four different parties. If there were only two, it was like having a rest. But if there were four, you couldn’t miss any. If you were given four invitations, you had to go. You couldn’t miss them.
I’d leave one place, I’d take 36 shots here, 36 shots there, and then 36 somewhere else, until the morning. Sometimes I would come back to parties where there had been a lot of people". - Malick Sidibé
The youngsters would impatiently wait for the pictures to be ready, to see themselves dancing with that one girl and proudly show it to their friends. Malick describes how the music and the nightlife brought freedom to the youngsters of Bamako; they could get closer to girls, break social barriers and express themselves.
Malick was invited to these parties as assignments. It was a sign of prestige, when he was there. When he arrived he would let his flash go off, as a welcome signal. Then he would try to blend in the background, to take spontaneous shots of people in trance by the music. Himself, he didn’t dance, as he describes in the book. I love this book for that it shows the nightlife side of his photography, including him talking about those times. It shows how important nightlife photography can become after a few decades.
(review as written on My Dusty Artbooks: https://www.instagram.com/mydustyartb...)
The book also features a list with club names. Apparently members of each club would identify each other by the way they wore their clothes. Sidibé happily mingled in this night scene, aside from working in his studio. And it was a big success, he would visit 5 different parties in one night sometimes, working till early in the morning.
"At night, from midnight to 4 am or 6 am, I went from one party to another. I could go to four different parties. If there were only two, it was like having a rest. But if there were four, you couldn’t miss any. If you were given four invitations, you had to go. You couldn’t miss them.
I’d leave one place, I’d take 36 shots here, 36 shots there, and then 36 somewhere else, until the morning. Sometimes I would come back to parties where there had been a lot of people". - Malick Sidibé
The youngsters would impatiently wait for the pictures to be ready, to see themselves dancing with that one girl and proudly show it to their friends. Malick describes how the music and the nightlife brought freedom to the youngsters of Bamako; they could get closer to girls, break social barriers and express themselves.
Malick was invited to these parties as assignments. It was a sign of prestige, when he was there. When he arrived he would let his flash go off, as a welcome signal. Then he would try to blend in the background, to take spontaneous shots of people in trance by the music. Himself, he didn’t dance, as he describes in the book. I love this book for that it shows the nightlife side of his photography, including him talking about those times. It shows how important nightlife photography can become after a few decades.
(review as written on My Dusty Artbooks: https://www.instagram.com/mydustyartb...)
December 27, 2013
The portraits are magnificent! They are reflective of a beautiful culture. Yes, yes, yes!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews