Je Vais Décoller, 1977
The Artsy Editorial team says: Born in 1943, the photographer Sanlé Sory is among the key documenters of West African nation Burkina Faso’s cultural emergence after it declared independence from France in 1960. The artist is known for capturing the exuberance of the country’s burgeoning youth culture, showing his subjects as they wanted to express themselves within the context of a fast-modernizing country.
In the work Je Vais Décoller (1977), at the booth of the New York’s Yossi Milo Gallery, a young man is shown playfully climbing into a studio backdrop, onto which an airplane is painted. Sory used backdrops for a number of works, usually commissioned by a painter to provide a pictorial context. In addition to adding an element of the fantastical, this setup enabled Sory to depict his young subjects with a touching humor.
“All these subjects came to the studio dressed up and felt so glamorous and chic, and he gave them these incredible portraits,” said gallerist Yossi Milo. “Where people wanted a different landscape to be photographed [against], it would sort of drive the subject,” he added. “Here, the guy is ‘traveling,’ climbing on the fake airplane on the canvas with his own bag and the sunglasses.”
