Alioune Ba

Ses images, toujours empruntes d’une grande douceur et d’une calme poésie, rompent avec le hiératisme des photographies de studio que l’Occident découvre depuis une dizaine d’années.

A key figure in the development of art photography in Mali, Alioune Bâ‘s monochrome images focus on tone, texture and pictorial rhythm. Undermining Western preconceptions of the Sahel region by presenting it as a repository of quiet beauty, many of his photographs offer graceful insights into village life. Bâ‘s images of exquisitely decorated bodies, meanwhile, make visual poetry from local rituals by mixing abstract patterns with vivid naturalism.

Noorderlicht