Paul Kodjo, Untitled, 1970s. Gelatin silver print. Overall: 50 x 40 cm. Purchase, with funds from the Photography Curatorial Committee, 2020. © Estate of Paul Kodjo, courtesy Les Rencontres du Sud. 2019/2325.
Located on Level 2 in Gallery 249.
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“[As] a photographer … you try to obtain the best pose, the most advantageous profile, because photography is an art.” — Seydou Keïta
By the 1950s African studio photographers had begun experimenting with lighting and composition techniques, resulting in flattering portraits of their subjects. These images carried an air of optimism during the post-independence era in West and Central Africa.
Tracing the development of African studio photography from the 1860s to the mid-1980s, this exhibition features images by Cameroonian photographer Michel Kameni, Malian photographers Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta and Ivorian photographer Paul Kodjo, among others.
The exhibition title, You Look Beautiful Like That, is a translation of the Malian phrase “i kany¨ tan”—popularized by Bamako-born photographer Seydou Keïta—and captures the close collaboration between photographers and African clients in the creation of their likenesses.
