Malick Sidibe

Malick Sidibe began photography in 1956 in Mali. He had his own portrait studio, Studio Malick, in Bamako and made photographs of middle-class youth culture at parties and other ceremonies. Sidibe captures the festive spirit of Mali's Independence (1960) from French colonial rule.

"independence was the energizing influence of young culture in my country. People went out and enjoyed themselves and had a lot of fun, and it was a very energetic place. But as the development of a socialist system took hold, imposing a police force that was in charge of taking care that people couldn't be out during the day and all that, this energy became much more constrained. So after '68, it was forbidden, for example, that women wear miniskirts. There were surveillance police who oversaw what the young people were doing. There were even times when people couldn't go out and take a walk." -Malick Sidibe

Malick Sidibe: Chemises published by Steidl brings together these party photographs made between 1962 and 1974.

In 2006 Tigerlily Films made a documentary entitled "Dolce Vita Africana" about Sidibe filming him at work in his studio in Bamako, having a reunion with many of his friends (and former photographic subjects) from his younger days and speaking to him about his work.

In 2008, Sidibé was awarded the ICP Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement.