tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post7920677427413647499..comments2024-03-27T00:32:29.877-07:00Comments on Photos and Stuff: Malian Photography, Revisitedamolitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-77293696999007940022017-11-16T07:57:42.334-08:002017-11-16T07:57:42.334-08:00I'm certainly not so militant as to say that w...I'm certainly not so militant as to say that white people can't study or know anything about Africa.<br /><br />It's just sort of depressing to see that every single one of the players is just some white person on the make, in the light of history. Whether these people are individually, or en masse, wonderful good souls, or horrid venal thieves, it just doesn't *look* that great, y'know?<br /><br />And, I think it behooves us to kind of casually keep track of these things. At *some* point it becomes unreasonable, and you have to start asking "Look, does NOBODY in Africa who has some expertise in art want to move to London and work for you? C'mon!"<br />amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-23503478252367753502017-11-15T12:27:39.270-08:002017-11-15T12:27:39.270-08:00Andrew, a few times here you make a big thing abou...Andrew, a few times here you make a big thing about the "white guy", and in fact it appears that the folk you refer to actually are white guys. But I wondered whether that part of the analysis would be changed (for better or worse), if those folk were actually black guys (or ethnic minority, not sure how it's appropriate to refer to such people these days), who were (say) 2 or 3 generations removed from Africa. My point is I suspect the exploitation issue comes as much from a cultural and economic gap as a racist (or racial) one.Chris Rusbridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06087447503626434385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-1493767033502312142017-11-13T06:49:42.758-08:002017-11-13T06:49:42.758-08:00Yeah, Magnin was supposedly looking for Keïta when...Yeah, Magnin was supposedly looking for Keïta when he found Sidibé, which must have been exciting. I think what he found is interesting, and it's completely different from Keïta, so, double the fun as it were!<br /><br />One of the major "tells" that all is not as it ought to be is that the MSU Archive cites CAAC only, as far as I can tell, in a note explaining that they're not archiving Keïta because CAAC has those negatives.<br /><br />They notably do not mention that there are other Sidibé negatives. I dunno where you land on this, but to me if a professional archivist doesn't mention that a) their archive of Gubbinses is incomplete and b) the rest of it can be found over there, the credibility of that archivist drops instantly to zero.<br /><br />An archive lives and dies on its cross references and indexes. If there's an important chunk being held by the devil himself, you've got to tell me that, and give me suggestions for how to contact the devil.<br />amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-8760141208276950812017-11-13T01:12:20.019-08:002017-11-13T01:12:20.019-08:00Cynical, but hilarious, sad, and probably true. Th...Cynical, but hilarious, sad, and probably true. The names you are overlooking are Seydou Keïta and Samuel Fosso, particularly the former, the "discovery" of whose work (I think) is in a different league and started the whole "West African portrait photography" thing.<br /><br />The whole phenomenon has a suspiciously patronising post-colonial smell to me, and we western white men should stay well away.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.com