Malick Sidibe: Project Room: Mali, 1974 (review)

MALICK SIDIBE PROJECT RO O M : Ma l i , 1 9 7 4 JACK SHAI NMAN GALLERY Jan 5 - Feb 2, 2002 1 "Many Love i t so m uch", says Mal i an phot ogr apher MaLick Sidibe, whiLe l aughi ng al most t o t he poi nt of t ears during a r ecent vi si t t o Har var d Universit y, "t hat t hey put perf ume on t hemsel ves and t heir chi l dr en bef ore t aki ng pi ct ur es. " "Wh y " he asked rhet orically , st il l l aughi ng, "You can't smel l t he pi ct ur es. " Needl ess t o say, Si di be's humor ous conj ect ure refers t o Mal i's phot ogr aphi c allure. Yet , t he i nt ense craze for phot ogr aphy and it s di st i nct bl ueprint was a remarkable phenomenon t hr oughout t he cont i nent and t hat whi ch had gi ven t hi s work of art it s own ident it y. Thr ough a paradoxical process, t he cont r adi ct i ons t hat modernit y f ilt ered became t he conquest of a new i magi nar y space and an essent i al part of Af r i can phot ogr aphi c pract ice. Phot ogr aphy est abl ished an ambi val ent sense of t ime and event , a bewildered sense of ident it y and an urge t o f i nd meani ng f or an exi st ent i al mal ai se w i t hi n a cont i nual l y evol vi ng cul t ural dynami cs. "A spont aneous ent husi asm f or phot ogr aphy t hr i ved all over t he cont i nent " says Sudanese art ist Hassan Musa, "an out come of a period of opt i mi sm f rom newly obt ai ned independence, an opt i mism of people who considered t hemsel ves as part of t he modern world and of peopl e who appr opr i at ed phot ogr aphy t o mark t heir bel ongi ng in t he modern cult ure. A phot ogr aphi c i mage was mat erial evidence t hat one act ual l y occupi ed t i me and space, a t ime and space t hat one was deprived of under t he rule of col oni zat i on, a f ant asy of t he col oni zed who was al ienat ed f or decades f rom his/ her l andmar k. " A subst ant i al number of Af rican phot ogr apher s emerged bet ween t he 1930s and 1950s Une phot o de souvenir pour Mai?, 1973, print ed in 2001, gelat in silver print , 24 x 20" f ol l ow i ng an i ncr easi ngl y avai l abl e camera t echnol ogy. Phot ogr aphy became f ashi onabl e w hen r ovi ng phot ogr apher s t rekked w i t h t heir camera t o rural l ocat i ons and capt ur ed i mages t hat were as t el l ing as port rait s and as convent i onal as passpor t i dent i f i cat i ons. As i f t he vi sual i mage subsequent l y conveyed t he spi r i t ual di mensi on of a human life, t he i nt er est i n phot ogr aphi c por t rait s prolif erat ed all t hr oughout t he cont i nent . Not w i t hst andi ng r egi onal variat ions, t he urgency of t he port rait became a unani mous obj ect ive. True t o f orm, phot ogr apher s like Mei ssa Gaye f rom Senegal set up st udi os t...