Bamako at Night
Amadou Keita and Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins || [ CURATORIAL STATEMENT ] use compass to view walls
Curatorial statement
These photographs are soft and ethereal. Shot at night in Bamako, Mali by Amadou Keita, they show residents in sparsely populated scenes, where electric street lamps illuminate the night in this urban built environment--a sports field, streets void of cars, raised concrete sidewalks turned into children's play things. Here he shows a more contemporary side of the city of Bamako, where traditional and contemporary urban life coexists side by side.
Artist Statement: Amadou Keita (Translated from French)
I was born in 1967 in Bamako Republic of Mali where I live and work. I asked him to speak about how he became a photographer and what subjects are of interest to him. Since I was at a young age, I was attracted to family photographs, and this passion has evolved over time. Through a friend named Farafing, I embraced the trade. For me, photography is a creative business that has a special feature compared to other artistic activities. It is a communication tool, a way to see or watch a person, object or subject. Photography is a more efficient way to pass a message. It need not be intellectual to be understood. As an instrument, I think it is a means to transfer, that which does not need an interpreter. All races from all continents can be understood and perhaps communicate through photography.
My travel photography developed in several stages. Early in 1987, the photograph was just a way to have money to live. I was an itinerant photographer but in 1990 opened my studio in Bamako or Niarla. At one point I realized that photography could impact a story, fact, or news. Upon returning to my village as a photographer, memories of my childhood (the traditional fisheries, the harvest of cereal with songs and dances, my childhood friends all became realities that I made visible through photography.
In 1994 at the first meeting of African photographers in Bamako, meetings with professionals and workshops helped me in launching my contemporary photography. Then I realized that there are two kinds of photographers, an amateur photographer who has a camera, who is capable of shooting a picture and the photographer as artist who is able to highlight and present exceptional images in the field of visual arts.
In general my work is in line with Malian culture and history (which are disappearing issue) and some news (politics, social realities). But at one point I asked myself the question whether a photograph was African or Western? After a long reflection I realized that storytelling through photographs is universal. But how one views the narrative, may differ depending on the culture viewing it. For example an Asian or African photographer who arrived in New York or Paris cannot have the same regard that an American photographer or French. There is necessarily a difference between shooting. I also think that photography operates in our culture without it being clearly understood. We have no school of photography in Mali or appropriate training center. I think in the West many young people learn basic photography at home with parents or school, [but the major proportion of the African population does not value this business. There are over a thousand itinerate photographers in Bamako, excluding the eight administrative regions and there are over fifteen professionals. To become a professional photographer in Africa is not easy because at present about 80% of photographers do not use digital still camera or the computer because of a lack of means.
Internet access is limited and many get second hand or use electronics from developed countries that have been dumped in landfills to try to get them to work. I was told by another photographer who worked on a project in the Congo that he had to send his negatives back to France for processing. Amadou confirmed that this was the common practice of getting printed images. I work with an analog camera on subjects of interest to me but it is not easy to obtain chemicals for developing and paper for printing in Mali.
Bamako is the capitol of African photography and we are in the 8th edition of our biennale. Every two years the European Union invests a lot of money to the success of the Biennale. We do not have a gallery or image bank that to allow photographers to live by making their art. Photographers, agencies, magazines, museums come to Bamako with the intent to meet with African photographers and to see their works. Unfortunately many find the same images that have toured the world. I think the authorities [in Africa] must make more of an effort to support African photographers, to express, to safeguard, and promote the African heritage that is rich and varied. Everyday our customs, our traditions, our signs and symbols do not leave any trace, and photography as a cultural conservation tool can play a major role in this field.
Media often does not show the good side of Africa, which leads some people to think that Africa is still the forest with ferocious animals, famine, and war. Africa has always shared its artistic, culture, and nature with everyone, it has its difficulties and its benefits but it needs to be free, be seen, be heard, to be trained in several areas, and be supported (not in the form just donations) but in maintaining its socio-cultural identity, it needs a new policy. I hope that African photography remains an art form because there are many things to discover. My hope is that African photographers can practice on the continent and can leave and return with new ideas, keeping contemporary African art talents alive to serve the continent and humanity. AK
I want to thank Eduardo Pineda who recently returned from Mali (there for a month, painting a mural) to the US for asking Amadou Keita to participate in this edition of OD-CAP. LLC
REMEMBER TO USE THE FOUR POINT STAR TO THE RIGHT TO NAVIGATE TO ALL GALLERY WALLS.
[ HIDE ]
These photographs are soft and ethereal. Shot at night in Bamako, Mali by Amadou Keita, they show residents in sparsely populated scenes, where electric street lamps illuminate the night in this urban built environment--a sports field, streets void of cars, raised concrete sidewalks turned into children's play things. Here he shows a more contemporary side of the city of Bamako, where traditional and contemporary urban life coexists side by side.
Artist Statement: Amadou Keita (Translated from French)
I was born in 1967 in Bamako Republic of Mali where I live and work. I asked him to speak about how he became a photographer and what subjects are of interest to him. Since I was at a young age, I was attracted to family photographs, and this passion has evolved over time. Through a friend named Farafing, I embraced the trade. For me, photography is a creative business that has a special feature compared to other artistic activities. It is a communication tool, a way to see or watch a person, object or subject. Photography is a more efficient way to pass a message. It need not be intellectual to be understood. As an instrument, I think it is a means to transfer, that which does not need an interpreter. All races from all continents can be understood and perhaps communicate through photography.
My travel photography developed in several stages. Early in 1987, the photograph was just a way to have money to live. I was an itinerant photographer but in 1990 opened my studio in Bamako or Niarla. At one point I realized that photography could impact a story, fact, or news. Upon returning to my village as a photographer, memories of my childhood (the traditional fisheries, the harvest of cereal with songs and dances, my childhood friends all became realities that I made visible through photography.
In 1994 at the first meeting of African photographers in Bamako, meetings with professionals and workshops helped me in launching my contemporary photography. Then I realized that there are two kinds of photographers, an amateur photographer who has a camera, who is capable of shooting a picture and the photographer as artist who is able to highlight and present exceptional images in the field of visual arts.
In general my work is in line with Malian culture and history (which are disappearing issue) and some news (politics, social realities). But at one point I asked myself the question whether a photograph was African or Western? After a long reflection I realized that storytelling through photographs is universal. But how one views the narrative, may differ depending on the culture viewing it. For example an Asian or African photographer who arrived in New York or Paris cannot have the same regard that an American photographer or French. There is necessarily a difference between shooting. I also think that photography operates in our culture without it being clearly understood. We have no school of photography in Mali or appropriate training center. I think in the West many young people learn basic photography at home with parents or school, [but the major proportion of the African population does not value this business. There are over a thousand itinerate photographers in Bamako, excluding the eight administrative regions and there are over fifteen professionals. To become a professional photographer in Africa is not easy because at present about 80% of photographers do not use digital still camera or the computer because of a lack of means.
Internet access is limited and many get second hand or use electronics from developed countries that have been dumped in landfills to try to get them to work. I was told by another photographer who worked on a project in the Congo that he had to send his negatives back to France for processing. Amadou confirmed that this was the common practice of getting printed images. I work with an analog camera on subjects of interest to me but it is not easy to obtain chemicals for developing and paper for printing in Mali.
Bamako is the capitol of African photography and we are in the 8th edition of our biennale. Every two years the European Union invests a lot of money to the success of the Biennale. We do not have a gallery or image bank that to allow photographers to live by making their art. Photographers, agencies, magazines, museums come to Bamako with the intent to meet with African photographers and to see their works. Unfortunately many find the same images that have toured the world. I think the authorities [in Africa] must make more of an effort to support African photographers, to express, to safeguard, and promote the African heritage that is rich and varied. Everyday our customs, our traditions, our signs and symbols do not leave any trace, and photography as a cultural conservation tool can play a major role in this field.
Media often does not show the good side of Africa, which leads some people to think that Africa is still the forest with ferocious animals, famine, and war. Africa has always shared its artistic, culture, and nature with everyone, it has its difficulties and its benefits but it needs to be free, be seen, be heard, to be trained in several areas, and be supported (not in the form just donations) but in maintaining its socio-cultural identity, it needs a new policy. I hope that African photography remains an art form because there are many things to discover. My hope is that African photographers can practice on the continent and can leave and return with new ideas, keeping contemporary African art talents alive to serve the continent and humanity. AK
I want to thank Eduardo Pineda who recently returned from Mali (there for a month, painting a mural) to the US for asking Amadou Keita to participate in this edition of OD-CAP. LLC
REMEMBER TO USE THE FOUR POINT STAR TO THE RIGHT TO NAVIGATE TO ALL GALLERY WALLS.
[ HIDE ]