Joséphine

Her profile is as sharp as a medal: Joséphine poses before the Volta Photo studio curtain in large dark sunglasses, neatly braided hair, a small ear stud and a fine chain over a white blouse. The sunglasses belong to the props the studio lent its clients; everyone came to decide the image they would leave of themselves. From 1960 onwards, Sanlé Sory photographed the youth of Bobo-Dioulasso this way, with a Rolleiflex, in a 6 × 6 square never cropped.

Numbered 2/6, this limited edition digigraphie print is made on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315 g paper and delivered in a museum frame under museum glass. A landmark of African photography, Sanlé Sory's work belongs to the collections of MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the V&A and LACMA. This black and white print features in Generation Volta, the Sakana Gallery exhibition in Donostia, until 1 October 2026.

Print details

• Edition : 2/6
• Image : 44 × 44 cm
• Paper : 50 × 65 cm
• Technique : Digigraphie print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315 g paper
• Framing : Museum framing, museum glass

This profile, as sharp as a medal, might have vanished. After the studios declined, Sanlé Sory left his archive, several hundred thousand negatives, sleeping in trunks and destroyed part of it. His 2011 meeting with the author Florent Mazzoleni saved the collection and brought this studio photography into the history of African photography. Without that rediscovery, Joséphine, her dark sunglasses and her braids would never have left Bobo-Dioulasso for the walls of a gallery.

All works by Sanlé Sory · Exhibition catalogue (PDF)