Nacido en Burkina Faso en 1932, Hamidou Maiga se trasladó a Tombuctú donde compró su primera cámara, una Semflex de medio formato. Fue allí en Mali en la década de los 50s donde empezó a aprender el oficio de fotógrafo, en un principio como fotoperiodista documentando a lo largo del Río Níger sus gentes y actividad. Unos años después estableció un exitoso Estudio y Laboratorio fotográfico en Tombuctú, cuando Mali era aún una colonia francesa. Con la independencia del país sus retratos adquirieron importancia como reflejo de una nueva sociedad, pero no ha sido hasta una exposición reciente en la Galería Jack Bell de Londres a sus 80 años de edad que su trabajo ha cobrado el renombre internacional del que ya disfrutaban otros fotógrafos africanos como Seydou Keita o su amigo Malick Sidibé.
Born in Burkina Faso in 1932, Hamidou Maiga went to Timbuktu where he bought his first camera, a medium format Semflex. It was there in Mali in the early 50s where he began to become interested in Photography as a new craft, focusing himself at first as a photojournalist documenting along the Niger River its people and activity. A few years later established a successful Photography Studio and Darkroom in Timbuktu, Mali, when it was still a French colony. With the country's independence his portraits became important as a reflection of a new society, but it was not until a recent exhibition at the Jack Bell Gallery in London that now in his 80 years of age his work has gained the international reputation already enjoyed by other African photographers such as Seydou Keita or his good friend Malick Sidibé.
Born in Burkina Faso in 1932, Hamidou Maiga went to Timbuktu where he bought his first camera, a medium format Semflex. It was there in Mali in the early 50s where he began to become interested in Photography as a new craft, focusing himself at first as a photojournalist documenting along the Niger River its people and activity. A few years later established a successful Photography Studio and Darkroom in Timbuktu, Mali, when it was still a French colony. With the country's independence his portraits became important as a reflection of a new society, but it was not until a recent exhibition at the Jack Bell Gallery in London that now in his 80 years of age his work has gained the international reputation already enjoyed by other African photographers such as Seydou Keita or his good friend Malick Sidibé.
