Sanle captured the flourishing music scene and joyful youth culture of late 1960s Burkino Faso following its independence from France.
THE ARTIST: Ibrahima Sanlé Sory (b. 1943) lives and works in, Burkina Faso. He is known for the elaborate painted backdrops which he painted and then used as backgrounds for his studio portraits. Working in the tradition of MALICK SIDIBE and SEYDOU KEITA, SANLE continues the tradition of African Photographic portraiture.
THE BOOK: This first book on his work covers photos made from 1965 to 1985 with a focus on portraits. Often photographed at dance parties these young African men & women mixed traditional African garb with the Western status symbols: blue jeans, cars, sunglasses, watches, pork pie hats- creating their own FASHIONABLE & CHIC STYLES
PROMO: Published to accompany first gallery show in London, Sanle is included in AUTO PHOTO at Foundation Cartier in Paris this summer and will have a show of work at Art Institute of Chicago May - October 2018
Burkina Faso photographer Sory Sanlé (born 1943) started his career in 1960, the year his country (then named République de Haute-Volta) gained independence from France.
Sory opened his Volta Photo portrait studio in 1965 and, working with his Rolleiflex twin-lens, medium-format camera, Volta Photo was soon recognized as the finest studio in the city. Voltaic photography’s unsung golden age is fully embodied by Sanlé Sory: his black-and-white images magnify this era and display a unique cultural energy and social impact.
This is the first monograph on Sory's work, which examines the natural fusion between tradition and modernity. Sory documented the fast evolution of Bobo-Dioulasso, then Burkina Faso’s cultural and economic capital, portraying the city’s inhabitants with wit, energy and passion. His work conveys a youthful exuberance in the wake of the first decades of African independence. In many ways, Sory's subjects also illustrate the remoteness and melancholy of African cities landlocked deep in the heart of the continent.
“Mr. Sory's work documenting the cultural scene is reminiscent of that by Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keita ... and now it is his turn to be lionized.” –The New York Times
"Adieu Bob Marley" (1981) is reproduced from 'Sanlé Sory: Volta Photo 1965–85.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Another Man Magazine
Daisy Woodward
... his sitters frequently adopted an air of theatrical confidence, to joyful effect.
Wonderland Magazine
Clara Hernanz
The photographer’s lens sought rich people, poor people, religious people, artists, musicians, everyone could become a hero at his Volta studio.
T Magazine
Leslie Camhi
...features more than 125 never-before-seen images, to be displayed alongside his iconice shots of sub-Saharan hipsters showing off their bell-bottoms, wristwatches, radios and James Brown records...
Dazed Digital
Michael-Oliver Harding
Everyone from funeral parlour drivers to pirate movie aficionados were welcomed into his studio, where they were offered hairbrushes, plastic toys, boom boxes, T-shirts, sunglasses – you name it. 'Customers wanted to hold something in their hands,' Sanlé recalls in the book. 'They sometimes wanted to borrow suits, hats and neckties I had at my disposal.'
The Guardian
Edward Siddons
Sory Sanlé's best photograph: the studio where dreams came true
The Guardian
Eward Siddons
Sory Sanlé's best photograph: the studio where dreams came true.
Shelf Awareness
Bruce Jacobs
... his sitters frequently adopted an air of theatrical confidence, to joyful effect.
"La Relève" (1982) is reproduced from Sanlé Sory: Volta Photo 1965–85, the irresistible new collection of recently discovered “golden age” Burkina Faso studio portraits from Reel Art Press & Morton Hill. Sanlé traveled by motorbike to remote villages with his own power supply, "throwing parties, setting up lights and playing records so that people could enjoy modern life and dress up in their finest clothes,” Florent Mazzoleni writes. “Sory worked as a reporter, a record sleeve illustrator, an official photographer but mostly as a studio photographer … He created his own studio backdrops and these paintings—a modern city, a beach boardwalk, an airplane or an antique column—were quite outstanding and unlike those of any other photographers in his country. An active character who ran, lifted weights and practiced karate, Sory also captured his own physical evolution with numerous self-portraits, some of which are instant classics.” continue to blog
“That was a youth group from Farkan,” Burkina Faso studio photographer Sanlé Sory says of “Les Afro-Pop,” this 1973 group portrait from his new Reel Art Press monograph, Volta Photo 1965–85. “A few of them were practicing karate with me. They were trendy, always changing their clothes. They were not married yet so they were free. They all had nicknames. They were always looking for money in order to organize parties and invite girls over. And they would love to have their pictures taken.” continue to blog
“This young lady was from the Farkan neighbourhood,” Burkina Faso studio photographer Sanlé Sory recollects in Volta Photo 1965–85, his new monograph from Reel Art Press & Morton Hill gallery. “She must have been around 16 years old. I can’t tell, as I never asked people for their IDs. I can’t remember her name but she was very beautiful, most certainly from the Dafin tribe. Headscarves were really trendy at that time. She must have come from a well-off family, as these items could be quite costly!” Sanlé titled this 1975 portrait Belle de Jour. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8 x 9.5 in. / 80 pgs / 40 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $29.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $39.95 ISBN: 9781909526525 PUBLISHER: Reel Art Press/Morton Hill AVAILABLE: 9/26/2017 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR ME
Published by Reel Art Press/Morton Hill. Introduction by Forent Mazzoleni.
Burkina Faso photographer Sory Sanlé (born 1943) started his career in 1960, the year his country (then named République de Haute-Volta) gained independence from France.
Sory opened his Volta Photo portrait studio in 1965 and, working with his Rolleiflex twin-lens, medium-format camera, Volta Photo was soon recognized as the finest studio in the city. Voltaic photography’s unsung golden age is fully embodied by Sanlé Sory: his black-and-white images magnify this era and display a unique cultural energy and social impact.
This is the first monograph on Sory's work, which examines the natural fusion between tradition and modernity. Sory documented the fast evolution of Bobo-Dioulasso, then Burkina Faso’s cultural and economic capital, portraying the city’s inhabitants with wit, energy and passion. His work conveys a youthful exuberance in the wake of the first decades of African independence. In many ways, Sory's subjects also illustrate the remoteness and melancholy of African cities landlocked deep in the heart of the continent.
“Mr. Sory's work documenting the cultural scene is reminiscent of that by Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keita ... and now it is his turn to be lionized.” –The New York Times
