Sanlé Sory, the Phaidon monograph

Phaidon publishes the first monograph devoted to Sanlé Sory, edited by Florent Mazzoleni, with texts by Taous Dahmani, Hiroshi Egaitsu, Charlotte Flint, Esther Hien, David Hill, Nicolas Niarchos and Aurélia Niat Toundji. More than two hundred black-and-white photographs retrace the story of the Volta Photo studio, opened in Bobo-Dioulasso in 1960, the year Upper Volta gained its independence.

The first book devoted to Sanlé Sory

No publication had yet gathered the work of the Burkinabè photographer. This book does, from studio portraits to surprise parties and open-air dances, three decades of Voltaic youth framed with a Rolleiflex 6 × 6, never cropped. Sanlé Sory now stands among the references of African photography. His prints have entered the collections of MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Fondation Cartier, and The Photographers’ Gallery in London opens an exhibition of his work on 14 October 2026.

Inside the book

248 pages and more than 200 photographs from the Volta Photo archives, the negatives saved and digitised since 2011 by Florent Mazzoleni. The 25 cm square format echoes the 6 × 6 negative. The text is in English.

Specifications

• Hardback, 250 × 250 mm, 248 pages
• More than 200 black-and-white photographs
• English text
• Published by Phaidon on 29 October 2026
• ISBN 9781837292547
• Edited by Florent Mazzoleni

Pre-order from the gallery

Pre-orders are paid in full when you order, €49.95, the publisher’s price. Copies ship from the gallery as soon as they reach us, from 29 October 2026.

The book and the exhibition

Sakana Gallery devoted the exhibition Generation Volta to Sanlé Sory in Donostia in the summer of 2026, working with Florent Mazzoleni, who edited this volume. The gallery presents his limited edition prints, among them Le mélomane and Belle de jour, and the exhibition catalogue as a PDF.