About

Initially trained in Timbuktu as a mason, Maiga's career as a photographer was launched in the early 1950s when he purchased his first camera, a medium format Souflex. At the age of twenty he learnt the rudiments of photography and printing through photojournalism and in 1958 Maiga opened his first studio in N'Gouma. For two years he traced the route of the River Niger developing a clientele for his distinctive outdoor studio portraits. In 1960 he returned to Timbuktu with a successful business.

As well as villagers in their finery, a swathe of dignitaries, accomplished artists, …