Sory, Sanlé: Volta Colour

Volta Colour is a brand new publication published on the occasion of Sanlé Sory: Colour Years, October 14 2026 - 21 February 2027. It marks the first time Sanlé Sory’s colour work has been shown in an exhibition in the UK; he is well known for his black and white work, but little known for his colour work which will take centre stage in the exhibition and the accompanying book. The book is a collaboration with GOST Books and The Photographers’ Gallery, written and edited by Taous Dahmani.

Sanlé Sory was born in 1943 and opened his photo studio in Bobo-Dioulasso in 1960. Over many years, he took more than a million pictures showing how his community changed. Sory welcomed change. When asked why he switched to colour in the 1980s, he said: "When you are in a place where everybody dances, you have to try to dance like everybody else!" 

By the late 1980s, colour had become the heart of his work. In Sory's studio, his clients chose their clothes, hairstyles and poses with care. These photographs are about more than fashion. They show pride, confidence and hope. They capture people building new lives in a changing country. 

Volta Colour shows that the move to colour was about much more than photography. From the years of President Thomas Sankara in the 1980s, through the 1990s and into the 2000s, Sory's photographs show people imagining the future on their own terms. They tell the story of West Africa through the eyes of West Africans.  

“This exhibition and this book offers a rare opportunity to discover a lesser-known chapter of work by Sanlé Sory, one of West Africa’s most celebrated photographers. His vibrant colour photographs from the mid-1980s through to the 2010s document a rapidly changing time in Burkina Faso.”—  Taous Dahmani

Title: Volta Colour
Author: Sanlé Sory
Editor: Taous Dahmani
Publisher, Year: GOST Books, October 2026
Format: Hardback, clothbound
Size, Pages: 178 x 250 mm, 160 pages, 99 images
ISBN: 978-1-80598-060-5