Untitled c. 1970

This is one of Malick Sidibé's contact sheets, glued onto card. Each of the small photographs have a serrated edge, like stamps, but they're individual moments, captured and arranged. I like the tonal range, from solid black to pale grey. The texture in these photographs comes from the grain of the film. He doesn’t conceal the material, instead, he uses it. In the photograph, bottom left, the woman’s patterned dress is really active. The dark circles create a powerful vibration against the white. It’s like the image is moving, like it's got its own internal rhythm. Sidibé captured the energy of youth culture in Mali. His work reminds me of Henri Cartier-Bresson. But where Cartier-Bresson aims to capture the decisive moment, Sidibé embraces the fleeting, transient nature of life. The contact sheet format also reminds us that the life of art is a series of moments. A process. It's an ongoing exchange.