Seydou Keïta
[Photographer, b. circa 1921, Bamako, Mali, d. 2001, Paris.]

 ...my father gave me the land with the house behind the main prison. And that’s where I opened my studio. It's a place where no one wanted to live because of the “spirits” that threw stones in the night. Even today if you sleep in that house and you turn off the light a great gleaming white horse spirit might appear. 
 Clients said to me: “I want to be photographed like this, you see? I would like this.” And I did it. But sometimes this did not suit them at all. I suggested a position which was better suited to them, and in effect, I determined the good position. I was never wrong. 
 When you’re a photographer, you always have to come up with ideas to please the customer. My experience taught me the positions that my customers liked best. You try to obtain the best pose, the most advantageous profile, because photography is an art, everything should be as close to perfection as possible. 
 You have to understand, it’s been a long time since I stopped taking photos, but as you can see I really loved photography. All my work is here in this chest.