Ibrahima Sanlé Sory | Deux couples dansant le blues, 1979
âThis one was taken in a private home. Music was played through tiny speakers. We listened to quite a few American blues artists such as BB King, Muddy Waters or Albert King in those days, and thatâs how the couples would danceâ
âIbrahima SanlĂ© Sory started his photographic career in Bobo-Dioulasso the very year his country became independent from France in 1960 under the name of RĂ©publique de Haute-Volta. As a young apprentice working with a Ghanaian boss, he learnt to work with a photographic chamber, before processing and printing his own pictures Like many African photographers of his generation, he chose the 6x6 format. He was privileged enough to document the fast evolution of his own city, Bobo-Dioulasso, then Haute-Volta's cultural and economic capital.
He captured the frontal collision between modern life and centuries-old traditions from this culturally rich and rural region.â
