In he had his first exhibition outside of Mali and received much critical praise for his carefully composed portraits. His work was the subject of a number of publications and exhibited throughout Europe and the United States. In , he received a Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale, becoming both the first photographer and the first African so recognized. Malick's father had wanted him to attend school, but passed before he was able to attend at the age of Guillat was impressed with his work and took him on as an apprentice.
He soon learned more about photography as he assisted Guillat, and eventually took on his own clients. He specialized in documentary photography, focusing particularly on the youth culture of the Malian capital. He increasingly became noted for his black-and-white studies of popular culture in the s in Bamako. He used an Agfa 6 x 6 camera with bellows to shoot weddings and more formal events, and a Foca Sport 24 x 36 for his more candid work.
He was known as a very charming person and would tell his clients jokes to put them at ease while shooting portraits. This was the time period just after the French Sudan and then the Mali Federation had gained their Independence from France in This new era post has, subsequently, been characterized by various observers as a post- colonial and post- apartheid awakening of consciousness.
He was survived by 17 children and three wives. Quick facts for kids. All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles including the article images and facts can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:. This page was last modified on 18 October , at Suggest an edit. In particular, he honed in on the vernaculars of style: the brash suits, the purposefully clashing prints, the girls pairing their headdresses with their cat-eye shades, the little kids in full tribal costume and face paint, the dancers kicking off their shoes.
The party, the club, the dance floor—these were his settings, the places where people came to be seen and dressed the part.
