© Sanlé Sory "Le Vendeur Sénégalais qui Fume" , 1972
Sanlé Sory (b. 1943; Nianiagara, Burkina Faso) opened his studio, Volta Photo, in 1960, the same year his country (then called Upper Volta) began its transition to independence.
He worked as regional reporter, event photographer and record sleeve illustrator but has become best known as Bobo-Dioulasso's finest studio photographer.
His use of painted backdrops, props and accessories allowed his subjects, mainly Fula, Malian and Voltaic youths, to have fun and “make the picture their own”.
His works are now in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; North Carolina Museum of Art; RISD Museum and the Tang Museum at Skidmore College.