Now open… Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens 📸
Get ready for a glimpse into Bamako from the late 1940s to early 1960s—an era of profound political and social transformation—as part of the most expansive North American exhibition of this legendary Malian photographer’s work to date.
“It was in the photo studio that administrative ID was created, marriages reported, births celebrated, graduation ceremonies captured,” Sana Ginwalla (
@sanaginwalla ) writes in the exhibition catalogue. “Beyond this, the studio became a place for people to imagine alternate lives, outside their social and economic structures.”
An active fixture and second character in Keïta's portraits is the studio stool.
Here, you can see the omnipresent prop around which sitters of all backgrounds fashion themselves—beginning with a painterly, ever-personal self-portrait of the artist himself that would become his signature, celebrated style.
Plan your visit to Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens through March 8, 2026 at brooklynmuseum.org.
Generous support is provided by VLISCO (
@vlisco ).
📷 Seydou Keïta. Untitled, 1956, printed 2018. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of The Jean Pigozzi African Art Collection and Danziger Gallery, NY → Untitled, 1952–55, printed ca. 1994–2001. → Untitled, ca. 1952–55, printed 1994. → Untitled, ca. 1956–57, printed 1994. → Untitled, 1959, printed 2001. → Untitled, 1956–57, printed 1994. Courtesy of The Jean Pigozzi African Art Collection. © SKPEAC/Seydou Keïta, courtesy The Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art and Danziger Gallery, NY
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