Sanlé Sory
In 1960, he founded the Volta Photo Studio in Bobo-Dioulasso. Following this, he developed a reputation as a photographer of the Burkinabe club scene in the 1960s and '70s. During this time, he also organized bals poussières, or "dust balls", where he would provide a sound system and musicians for concerts stages in the countryside.
Also recorded as Sory Sanlé
Sanlé Sory
SOPHIE DOUCE · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Sanlé Sory
- Born
- 1943
- Birthplace
- Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkino-Faso
- Occupation
- Photographer Sanlé Sory (born 1943) is a Burkinabe photographer.
- Nationality
- Burkina Faso
- Languages
- French
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
In 1960, he founded the Volta Photo Studio in Bobo-Dioulasso. Following this, he developed a reputation as a photographer of the Burkinabe club scene in the 1960s and '70s. During this time, he also organized bals poussières, or "dust balls", where he would provide a sound system and musicians for concerts stages in the countryside.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Sanlé Sory. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q77288354 · wikipedia · Sanlé Sory
In this article
Biography
Biography
Sory would roam the bals with his camera, taking photos for money. In 2018, the Art Institute of Chicago presented the exhibition Volta Photo: Starring Sanlé Sory and the People of Bobo-Dioulasso in the Small but Musically Mighty Country of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). Steidl published an accompanying catalogue, titled Volta Photo. In 2021, the fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner released a line of clothing titled Volta Jazz and inspired by Sory's photographs. The line included a film by the same name, created by Joshua Woods. Sory's work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Sanlé Sory • Born — 1943 • Birthplace — Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkino-Faso • Occupation — Photographer Sanlé Sory (born 1943) is a Burkinabe photographer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1943
Sanlé Sory born at French Upper Volta.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Abani, Chris. The Postcolonial Moment. The New Republic. 19 April 2018.
- 2.Monks, Kieron. Rare photos uncover Burkina Faso's underground club scene. CNN. March 2019.
- 3.Adams, Tim. The big picture: a taste of freedom in 1970s west Africa. The Guardian. 2 May 2021.
- 4.Niarchos, Nicolas. When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture. The New Yorker. 16 September 2018.
- 5.Starring Sanlé Sory. Aperture. 9 May 2018.
- 6.Macdonald, Fleur. Sanlé Sory's joyful photographs of Burkina Faso in the 1970s. The Economist. 4 May 2018.
- 7.Sisley, Dominique. Grace Wales Bonner Celebrates West African Nightlife in New Collection. AnOther. 23 June 2021.
- 8.Singer, Olivia. Wales Bonner Spring 2022 Menswear Collection. Vogue. 22 June 2021.
- 9.Sanlé Sory: Yamaha de nuit. mfah.org.
- 10.Sanlé Sory: Burkinabe, born 1943. moma.org.
- 11.Sanlé Sory - Tang Teaching Museum. Tang Teaching Museum.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Sangeet VermaPhotographer
- Sani MaikatangaPhotographer
- Sanja IvekovićPhotographer
- Sankichi OzakiPhotographer
- Sanna Irshad MattooPhotographer
- Sanna KannistoPhotographer
- Sanne KurzPhotographer
- Sante D'OrazioPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Sanlé Sory?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.