Swinging Mali

By Fleur Macdonald

When Malick Sidibé, a Malian photographer, turned up at parties, he would let off a flash to announce his arrival. The atmosphere would heat up as guests showed off for the camera. Young women in bright mini-dresses did the twist. Hipsters in tight flares and floral shirts danced with them indelicately. It was the swinging Sixties after all, and everyone wanted to be snapped by Bamako’s coolest photographer.

Originally destined to become a goatherd, Sidibé, who was born in 1936 and died this April, was the first member of his family to go to school. There he showed a talent for drawing and ended up at the Institut des Arts in Bamako. He took a job as the assistant to a French photographer, Gerard Guillat-Guignard. “I watched him and understood how to take photographs,” Sidibé said. “I did the African events, the photos of Africans, and he did the European events – the major balls and official events.”