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A self-taught photographer, Seydou Keïta opened a portrait studio in Bamako, Mali, in 1948. Soon his portraits gained a reputation for excellence throughout West Africa, attracting numerous clients. Many were young men and women from Bamako, and some came from throughout colonial West Africa and arrived in the city via the Dakar-Niger Railway. Some customers brought with them the items with which they wanted to be photographed. But Keita also kept a selection of European clothing and accessories—watches, pens, radios, scooters, etc.—which he put at their disposal in his studio. Keïta frequently placed his subjects in front of a floral-pattern cloth backdrop, often to visually stunning effect, as the patterns of the backdrop blend and commingle with those of the sitter’s clothes.