Regardez-moi bien

He kept the black hat but left the shirt behind: bare-chested, in flared trousers and platform sandals, the sitter raises an index finger towards the lens with a hint of a smile, and the title reads like a summons. The whole apparatus of the Volta Photo studio stays in the frame: the hanging cloth, the patterned tiled floor, the two lamps edging into the picture. In Bobo-Dioulasso, Sanlé Sory let his clients lead the pose and recorded it with his Rolleiflex, in a 6 × 6 square never cropped.

A limited edition print numbered 4/8, produced as a digigraphie on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315 g paper, with museum framing and museum glass. Sanlé Sory, whose work has entered MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the V&A and LACMA, stands among the great names of African photography. This black and white print belongs to Generation Volta, presented by Sakana Gallery in Donostia until 1 October 2026.

Print details

• Edition : 4/8
• Image : 36 × 36 cm
• Paper : 40 × 50 cm
• Technique : Digigraphie print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315 g paper
• Framing : Museum framing, museum glass

Bare-chested, hat on his head, finger pointed and the title as a summons: “Look at me”. Here the whole apparatus stays in the frame, hanging cloth, tiled floor, lamps spilling in from the edges, and it becomes clear that Sanlé Sory's studio photography is an openly theatrical stage. It is this element of performance, long underrated, that the history of African photography now acknowledges: the sitter is not recorded, he acts, and Sory lets him run the scene.

All works by Sanlé Sory · Exhibition catalogue (PDF)