LIGHT AND SOUL - Photos of Malika Diagana from Senegal
Urban Life in Dakar

From September 30 to October 24, 2021 in the Photobastei Zürich, www.photobastei.ch.
Opening with the photographer on September 30 at 18.00
 

Photographers from the West African counties Senegal and Mali have been getting attention from the western art world since the 1990s. In particular in the cities of Dakar and Bamako, a lively scene involving its own image traditions and aesthetics has developed alongside the genres of street and studio photography. Other forms of documentary photography also play important roles in society, for example, as a means of transmitting information to illiterate segments of the population, but also in passing on traditions and stories.
The most important African art shows take place every two years in Bamako and Dakar: the DAk’Art and the Rencontres de Bamako, Biennale africaine de la photographie.

Malika Diagana: “Photographier, c’est écrire en lumière.”
The photographer from Mauritania and Dakar is one such photographer whose imagery is completely unique and who is gaining more and more international attention.
Her black-and-white photographs depict life on the streets of Dakar and tell the stories of the people who live there: women shopping at the market, children playing, young men spray-painting graffiti beside the street.
In particular the portraits of women, with all of their nuances and shades of grey, have a timeless and enchantingly beautiful quality achieved via the photographer’s light play.

Malika Diagana wurde 1982 in Mauretanien geboren, ist in einer multikulturellen Familie aufgewachsen und lebt seit Ende ihrer Schulzeit in Senegal. Während ihres Grafikdesign- und Videostudiums entdeckte sie die Fotografie. Dieser erste Kontakt mit dem Bild motivierte sie, in diese Richtung fortzufahren. Dank ihrer Fähigkeit, verschiedene Techniken zum «Spielen mit Licht» anzuwenden, begann sie eine Karriere im Grafikdesign und widmete einen Teil ihrer Zeit dem Fotografieren. Die Begegnung mit dem Fotografen Djibril Sy weckte ihre Leidenschaft für die Schwarz-Weiss Fotografie und animierte sie, diesen Weg weiterzugehen. Einen grossen Einfluss auf ihre Arbeit hat auch ihr Onkel Julien Lopez, einer der ersten Fotografen, der in den 60er Jahren ein eigenes Studio in Saint-Louis, Senegal hatte und auch davon leben konnte.
For Malika Diagana photography provides the possibility of representing her perspectives and points of view, telling a multitude of stories and preserving snapshots of the present for future generations.
The photographer is currently in the process of establishing a photo studio in Dakar while setting up a photography training program especially for women in Mauritania. She hopes to find sufficient sponsors to fund the program in the coming year.

Malika Diagana exhibited her work at the 2015 Rencontres de Bamako and was invited to participate in the 2018 Lagos Photo Festival. Her photos have been exhibited in Germany and France and published in newspapers and magazines. More information is available on her website www.linguereart.com. www.linguereart.com