In 1994-95, I went to West Africa for the first time in order to meet African photographers on their homeground. By doing this, I also engaged in a restoration project for old African portrait photographers.

When I returned to Denmark, I had borrowed a lot of old negatives. And I spent several months in my darkroom restoring negatives and making the first pictures, which were exhibited in Denmark and Mali in 1996. Later, the collection was increased by even more negatives and more photographers. Today, it consists of more than 200 exhibition pictures of which you can see a small selection on these pages.

This summer, it is possible to see one of Malick Sidibés portraits of our collection at Museet for Fotokunst in Odense. The picture is part of the exhibition 'One Shot Each - Humour highlighted by 100 photographers in 100 pictures'. Moreover, in June, Malick Sidibé will be awarded the Golden Lion for Life Achievement of La Biennale di Venezia.

Svend Erik Sokkelund
photographer & curator