86 FIG. 12 (above): Seydou Keïta (Malian, 1921/23– 2001), Reclining Woman, 1950s–1960s. Gelatin silver print, 1975. 13 x 19 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Susan Mullin Vogel, 2015. A woman is leaning sideways on a lavish textile, whose checkered patterns contrast with the bold arabesque motifs of the vertical backdrop. This pose is a recurrent one among West African photographers. While Western viewers often associate it with the archetype of the odalisque from nineteenth-century Orientalist paintings, the pose in fact echoes one that would be regularly held at home with guests on both formal and informal occasions. Rather than suggesting sensuality, the reclining posture is one that allows the sitter to display her outfi t and express her sociability as she elegantly entertains her guests and commands the space. ics, as can be seen through a selection of eight works by a variety of artists (fi g. 7). Mama and Salla Casset were among the most popular photographers in Dakar. Born to a middle-class Saint Louisian family, the Casset brothers began to photograph as assistants to two French photographers, Tennequin and Oscar Lataque, in the 1910s and eventually established their own respective studios in the capital in the early 1940s. As urban photographers, their clientele was the ascending middle class, whose tastes and imaginations were nourished by the burgeoning mass media culture, including popular magazines and fi lms from Europe, the United States, North Africa, and India (fi g. 8). MALICK SIDIBÉ (MALIAN, B. 1936) Malick Sidibé is known for his dynamic shots that are tied to Malian culture of the 1960s. Trained under the French photographer Gérard Guillat-Guignard, he established his studio in 1962 in Bamako. In the aftermath of independence from France, Sidibé captured the exuberance and turbulence of the younger generation that was immersed in Pan-African and diasporic cultures. The thirteen vintage prints in the exhibition were taken in his studio and in private homes, making evident Sidibé’s varied practice. About the size of postcards, his photographs were cherished objects that were commissioned, exchanged, framed, and often displayed in domestic interiors (fi gs. 9 and 10). SEYDOU KEÏTA (MALIAN, 1921/3–2001) AND OUMAR KA (SENEGALESE, B. 1930) By presenting fi ve photographs by Seydou Keïta facing fi ve works by Oumar Ka, this section highlights the variety of aesthetics and photographic practices that coexisted across the region. Poses, gestures, attires, backdrops, and landscapes varied tremendously, particularly between urban and rural areas. Born in Bamako in the early 1920s, Keïta was one of the forerunners of photography in Mali. After learning darkroom techniques from photographers Pierre Garnier and Mountaga Kouyaté, Keïta launched his own studio in 1948. In just over a decade, he produced around 10,000 negatives, capturing the Bamakois elite. In photographing his sitters as cosmopolitan individuals, Keïta’s camera once created and now recounts the myth of Bamako (fi gs. 11 and 12). Oumar Ka was trained under the Senegalese photographer Cheikh Kane and began his practice as an itinerant photographer in 1959 before opening his own studio in the city of Touba in 1968. Ka portrayed the
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