Mon amour ma chérie

Her outfit does the talking: a tunic and long skirt cut from the same printed pagne, covered with the words Mon amour, Ma chérie and hearts pierced by arrows. Light headwrap, striped handbag on her arm, the faintest smile: the young woman poses before the painted column backdrop of the Volta Photo studio in Bobo-Dioulasso, on the checkerboard floor, two studio lamps edging into the frame. Sanlé Sory shoots square on his Rolleiflex 6×6, never cropping, and the fabric becomes a declaration.

The last print of a limited edition of 8, this black and white print is a digigraphie on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315 g paper, image 36 × 36 cm, in a museum frame with museum glass. Rediscovered in 2011, Sanlé Sory's african photography has entered MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the V&A and LACMA. The work is on view in Generation Volta at Sakana Gallery, Donostia, until 1 October 2026.

Print details

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

An outfit cut from a wax print scattered with arrow-pierced hearts: for Sanlé Sory, the accessory states a taste, a bearing, a sense of belonging. Such fashion images before their time led the Victoria and Albert Museum to bring his studio photography into Africa Fashion. Before the painted backdrop, the youth of Bobo-Dioulasso chose their costume and composed their own social stage, far from any ethnographic document. His work now belongs to the V&A and to LACMA.

All works by Sanlé Sory · Exhibition catalogue (PDF)