Untitled (a young mother with her baby)

“When people saw me with a camera around my neck, they asked me to take a photo of them. That’s how I began.” -Seydou Keïta Keïta began his photographic career in 1935 when his uncle gifted him his first camera: a Kodak Brownie Flash. He however, later switched to a large-format camera which offered better resolution and was able to open his own studio in 1948. His studio offered a variety of props ranging from European-style clothing and flowers, to Vespas and cars that customers could pose with. Here, a woman is lying on a geometric patterned rug with her child set against the plain backdrop of a bedsheet to emphasize the patterns in her dress, and headpiece. For most of his photos, Keïta used natural sunlight, granting the subject a more natural, everyday appearance.