Studio Malick, Bamako, March 1971 © Malick SidibÈ

In the book’s final section, Sidibé travels back to his birth village of Soloba and documents everyday life there. These images are different again–loose and spontaneous, many lack formal elements of composition and even, at times, sharp focus. But they capture everyday life in an African village in a way we don’t often see. Here are villagers making straw baskets and thatched roofs, harvesting corn, sharing food. The tone is relaxed, intimate; these are clearly images shot by an insider.

Although nearing eighty, Sidibé is apparently still shooting. Apparently, his Bamako studio buzzes with visitors, some coming by just to shoot the breeze. Perhaps even more importantly, he has become a role model for a generation of young African photographers–people like Zwelethu Mthethwa, Samuel Fosso and Mikhael Subotzky–who, building on his legacy, have found their own voices and ways to capture a colorful, multi-faceted continent.