Malick Sidibé's Printed Revolution

I was clicking through a black and white slideshow, in last week's NYTime's Sunday Magazine, called "Prints and the Revolution" and was impressed by the photographer's ability to recreate Malick Sidibé's studio portraits of Malian men and women.

The Tate Modern in London had an exhibit this past summer called Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography that I dragged my cousins to (thanks guys!) and I remember seeing Sidibé's work in person for the first time and naturally drifting towards the portraits of men and women formally dressed and standing on a patterned floor, with a slight smile, seemingly sharing an elaborate joke with Sidibé.

Others showed a more complicated view of Malian life. Young men sheepishly grinning and posing with prestige items in their flip flops in front of a cityscape facade.

My favorite phographs by Sidibe are his energetic and exuberant snapshots of Malian nightlife.

After clicking through the slideshow, I looked at the credits and realized that Sidibé had recreated his own work!
And even more exciting was the use of Western designer clothing obviously inspired by traditional African prints. The styling is so clever, I had to do a double take when I read the labels and then found the pieces that when put together seamlessly create an authentic Malian "look" (obviously for a non-Malian observer, me).

Marni polka-dot top. Christian Lacroix striped top. Marc Jacobs dress. Christian Louboutin shoes. Dries Van Noten bracelet.

How wonderfully confusing. Western designers mish-mashed together to create an African look recreating studio photographs by the photographer who created the inspiration.

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SB