Ideas of Africa: 20th Century African Portraiture by Malian Photographer Seydou Keïta

Seydou Keïta may not have been able to predict that he would be crowned a king of 20th century African portraiture, but most of us can’t so easily imagine a world filled with our greatness.

Seydou Keita, 1921-2001, Self-portrait c. 1950s

Born in Mali in 1921 to a carpenter, Keïta grew up within the colonial capture of the French army in their declared French Soudan. Following in his father’s trade, he began working as a carpenter. After being gifted a Kodak Brownie by his uncle in 1935, Keïta began teaching himself photography. He shot with daylight in his home courtyard and took only a single shot for each subject. This is not surprising, as the cost of photographs at the time often exceeded a family’s monthly income, even in Europe. The particular Kodak he had been gifted was created to attend to this cost problem with the introduction of the snapshot. He took pictures of family, neighbours, friends, and clients at his father’s workshop, eventually entering the mentorship of Mountaga Dembélé in 1949.

After purchasing a used 13-by-18-inch view camera with a broken shutter from Pierre Garnier at Photo-Hall Soudanais, he opened an outdoor studio. Branding himself professionally by stamping “Photo Keïta Seydou” on the back of the images, he also began to solicit clients by word of mouth through his assistants. By now, he had mastered the use of sunlight with this camera, which he used to illuminate his subjects from 1949 to 1962.

His specialized portraiture began to grow in popularity with locals who wanted to be captured in European-style clothes and items. Some customers brought in objects they wanted to be photographed with, but Keïta often provided these pieces, hosting an array of clothing and accessories (watches, pens, radios, and a scooter) and even allowing the use of his own car. Most of the clothing was worn by the men. African women wore African garb and did not begin dressing in Western garments until the late 1960s. This is evident in the photographs from 1956 and on. Initially, his popularity grew mostly among the young men in his community.

Most of the images I have posted were captured from 1956 to 1957. None of his images were titled, so the names of the people are largely unknown. Keïta’s technique used the clashing textures of ornate, swirling arabesque motifs, a signature style in West African batik, alongside symmetrical objects of African jewelry and art to create a distinctly colonial-influenced African atmosphere. The people in his photographs after 1952, the time he achieved local financial success, were often elite and middle-class patrons aiming to highlight the idealized or imagined socio-economic status of individuals in French-occupied Mali.

These cosmopolitan ideals presented an alternate history. They subverted the subservient colonial imagery and experience of many Africans at the time. The moving, patterned backdrops enliven these images, while the low vantage point and angular composition bind his clients’ confident facial expressions and relaxed postures to the history they are creating. The subjects in the photographs do not compromise with the viewer. They are full. That is why I love it so. The men, women, and children command equal attention. They speak of an alternate future in which indigenous Africans equally participated in both the giving and taking of their lives, land, and the building of their future when faced with European Empire.

In 1962, he became the official photographer for the Republic of Mali, leaving his studio behind after being commissioned by the government to take mug shots of prisoners. These images were said to have been destroyed in fires set during riots associated with the 1991 coup d’état. He retired his studio in 1977. After returning to find all his equipment had been stolen, the studio was converted into a garage.

Seydou Keïta died in Paris, France, on November 21, 2001. He is survived by his 16 children born to his three wives. His work was introduced to Western society in the 1990s, leading to an editorial spread for the American magazine Harper’s Bazaar in 1998. His work has been showcased in various exhibits around the world. Most recently, the Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination exhibition at MoMA, NY from 14/12/2025 to 26/07/2026.

Oh, how I wish I was in New York, New York!

Seydou Keita in Harper's Bazaar c. 1998