The Eye of Bamako, an exhibition by Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, is on view now at M+B gallery. The 75-year-old’s portraits of personal and cultural changes in post-colonial Africa have been celebrated around the world. “Positioned at the junction of Malian independence and a period of rapid modernization, the works exhibited bear witness to the joy, insouciance, and confidence of Africa’s youth revolution,”  M+ B gallery says. “Sidbé’s ebullient images take place in a variety of settings: either outdoors in one of Mali’s newly minted nightclubs, house parties spinning the latest James Brown album, picnics on the bank of the River Niger or indoors at Studio Malick. In 1958, he opened his own studio to take photographs of “Africans for Africans,” and by 1965, the young people knew to go to Studio Malick with their Vespas and latest goods straight from Saint Germain des Prés. Sometimes the props in the portrait did not belong to the client but reflected the aspiration of the sitter, making Studio Malick a powerful place to realize the dreams of an emergent culture.” Sidibé continues to run Studio Malick with the help of his sons. The exhibition will run through April 9, 2011. To see more of Sidibé’s work click here.

Jeunes Bergers Peuls, 1972 / 2010.

Le photographe et son ami, 1971 / 2010.

Amis des espagnole, 1968.

Dansez le twist!, 1965 / 2006.

Portrait de Miss Kanté Sira, 1965.

Twist, 1963 / 1996.