Je vais décoller

Sanlé Sory, 1977

A playful passenger in the height of 1970’s Western fashion—flared bell bottoms, white top, fringed shoulder bag, and oversized white sunglasses—steps up as if to board an airplane painted against a backdrop. In the photographer’s studio, the fantasies of luxury travel, worldwide journeys, and freedom come to life. The composition and subject are effortlessly cool, a trademark of studio photographer Sanlé Sory, based in Burkina Faso. The BMA acquired the image in 2019 as Sory received renewed recognition for his work following a major solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018.

Sory’s creative photography captured the vibrancy of landlocked Upper Volta’s youth culture following the small West African country’s independence from France in 1960. Through his photography, Sory documented the arts and music scene of Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second-largest city and arts hub. His whimsical and witty portraits in front of hand-painted backdrops of exotic locales–such as this one–capture this period of optimism. Upper Volta flourished until the 1980s, when austerity measures imposed by international institutions repressed the oncethriving art scene, where Sory continues to live and work.

Je vais décoller (I am going to take off) intersects with works across the BMA collection, from independence-themed ceramics in the American collection to the commemorative collages by postwar artist Louis Lo Monaco celebrating the March on Washington, as well as portraits captured by Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee.