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[Self-Portrait]

1956
Not on view
In 1962 Sidibé opened a commercial photography studio in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and over the ensuing decades made thousands of portraits of the burgeoning middle class in the city’s streets and discotheques. This dynamic self-portrait was made six years before he opened his practice, shortly after he bought his first camera. Turning his head, the artist seems caught unaware, responding to an unseen interlocutor. Selected by Sidibé, the hand-painted glass frame was made in Bamako.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: [Self-Portrait]
  • Artist: Malick Sidibé (Malian, Soloba 1936–2016 Bamako)
  • Date: 1956
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print; glass, paint, cardboard, tape, and string
  • Dimensions: Image (visible): 7 7/8 × 7 7/8 in. (20 × 20 cm)
    Painted frame: 15 3/4 × 12 1/16 × 3/8 in. (40 × 30.7 × 1 cm)
    Frame: 22 1/2 × 18 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (57.2 × 47.6 × 3.8 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gift of Jack Shainman and Claude Simard, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.638
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Baptême chez Jafuna, Malick Sidibé Malian, Gelatin silver print
Baptême chez Jafuna
Malick Sidibé
ca. 1968
Je veux être seule, Malick Sidibé Malian, Gelatin silver print
Je veux être seule
Malick Sidibé
1979
[Woman Standing Before Striped Background], Malick Sidibé Malian, Gelatin silver print
[Woman Standing Before Striped Background]
Malick Sidibé
1979
[Man Standing Before Striped Background], Malick Sidibé Malian, Gelatin silver print
[Man Standing Before Striped Background]
Malick Sidibé
1976
Qui danse le mieux
Malick Sidibé
1965, printed 1998

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