Back Views [Vues de Dos]

Malick Sidibé Malian

Not on view

In the early 2000s, following his international success, Sidibé produced a number of portraits of his friends, neighbors, and family members standing with their back to the camera, echoing the stance of film actors as they exit a scene. According to scholars, Sidibé began developing this pose as early as the 1960s. Here, he pushes the self-assured attitude conveyed by this pose to the extreme, withholding completely the sitter’s facial features. In this series, Sidibé questions established conventions of portraiture and leaves the viewer wondering about the sitter’s identity.

Back Views [Vues de Dos], Malick Sidibé (Malian, Soloba 1936–2016 Bamako), Gelatin silver print in original frame of reverse-painted glass, tape, cardboard, string

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