Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via GettyImages
It was a natural evolution for Top 50 model Malick Bodian to go behind the camera himself, taking pictures of the environments and people that invigorated him. With a soft-spoken, yet steadfast assuredness in his creative ability, Bodian took a leap to document his love for home and familiar places, first shooting around Dakar, Senegal, where he lives when he’s not in Paris, right before the onset of the pandemic. Since then, his photography work has been featured in some of the most prestigious fashion magazines and brands, including Vogue, Vogue Italia, Chanel, Dazed Magazine, Bottega Veneta, and Wales Bonner. Bridging the gap between his creative work and his day job as one of the most in-demand faces, he has also been the face of Louis Vuitton’s recent collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, shot by Steven Meisel, along with campaigns for Jil Sander, Dior Men, and Tom Ford, further cementing his status as one of the most sought-after models in the industry. We spoke to Bodian about how he first made that first transition to photography, his favorite marquee projects, and documenting reality within fashion photography.
You recently walked Haider Ackermann’s couture show for Jean Paul Gaultier, and the last that I saw that you walked for him was back in 2020. How is that juggling process being in the middle of a crazy show season and still being able to be creative?
At the moment, I’m not doing too many things as a model. I have to be quite selective and since I’m quite selective, I found some time to take pictures. At this moment, when it’s fashion week, I’m really focused on just modeling and I don’t really shoot. I usually do my personal or photo project later in the month, around March or April, not in the middle of Fashion Week.
It’s amazing that many landmark shoots that you’ve done have been in Africa, whether it’s been in Dakar for Chanel, or shooting Michaela Coel in Accra last year for your [and her!] first Vogue US cover. How important is shooting on set for you and showcasing the depth and beauty of the African landscape?
For me, I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to shoot in Africa because it’s home. I would have never imagined doing such a project like Vogue there. I’m grateful about it, but it’s very rare and you don’t have those opportunities all the time of having such a crew to shoot in Africa. Then Senegal, where I did most of my photo projects, is my second home. I live between there and Paris. Every time I have the opportunity to do a story and I always push it to make it happen over there. Somehow I really feel good when I’m working there. I have my close people, I feel comfortable even with the light and everything more than I do over here [in Paris].
How was the experience of being able to shoot Michaela Coel in Accra for the November issue of Vogue? I imagine that that was a huge milestone for you.
It was a very unique project. I always say, sometimes you do a project and realize it’s a once-in-a-lifetime project. It’s something you will never do again because it was so special. It was, I think, the first or second time that Vogue shot in West Africa and was probably the first cover shoot like that. We were just very lucky to be part of it. I was really grateful because she was very humble. She didn’t have to be, but she was a very humble, nice person that makes it very easy for us to work.
Do you remember when you first started taking pictures? How did you first start finding inspiration and what was the process for you making it a career for yourself?
When I first started taking pictures, I was doing it to keep myself busy, just to distract my mind from modeling, because I was just doing a lot of modeling. I wanted to do something more creative. I take it very slowly. I started by documenting the places I was going as a model. With time, I tried to do fashion shoots. Then going back and forth home to Senegal, I actually realized that fashion photography was not really what I really wanted to do, it was more documentary photography. From that moment, I was a bit stuck because I was a model and I’m completely in fashion. But at the same time, I love documentary photography, so I had to find something in between and that’s what I’m trying to do.
“…sometimes you do a project and realize it’s a once-in-a-lifetime project. It’s something you will never do again because it was so special.”
When you talk about documentary photography, it’s quite different from fashion photography, which focuses on fantasy, and has muses and characters. You’re trying to capture reality. What’s the process of finding subjects? Do you have muses or at least someone that you constantly look to for inspiration that appears a lot in your work?
As a photographer in fashion, I think my muses are mostly my friends. I like to photograph my friends. I always did since the beginning. For example, that Bottega project we did with my friend Dara [Gueye]. I just feel very comfortable taking a picture of him. Then in my personal work, it’s mostly my family. I think it’s very, very, very important for me. I don’t know if it’s the most important, but I like to photograph people I know because I feel like it’s more intimate and personal. I just like to document people’s emotions. I don’t take it so seriously, to be honest with you.
Did you ever feel pigeonholed as a model before branching out into your photography career, or was it a natural evolution?
I think it was a natural evolution. I think I could not do only modeling for such a long time. I never wanted to do it since the beginning, and I did it because I was scouted and someone told me, “Oh, I think you could be great for this,” so I tried, but it’s not something I dreamed about. I felt like I was designated to do something else, like photos or anything.
I remember we interviewed Piotr Chamier, and he told us the story about when you got scouted and not wanting to initially do it. It’s funny for you to say that right now.
In the beginning, when I first met him, he was just like, “You want to model for this job?” but I was not completely scouted by him. He scouted me for a magazine. I was in Corsica, out with friends, and then I said no, since it was so late. Then I ended up going to the shoot and did it, and I was happy that I did. I’m grateful that I did. After that shoot, when it came out a few months later, there was an agent called Benoit, who lived in Paris, and he contacted me and proposed to be my mother agent. Then he presented me to my agency, Success.
Looking back at 2022, what was the most important thing you’ve learned in the last year?
In this last year, I learned a lot of things, to be honest, but the thing I learned the most is that if I have, or if anyone has just something that they have in mind that they should do it because you never know what can happen. The world changes so quickly. Sometimes you have plans of things you want to do in five years and then in six months, you realize you really don’t want to do that. I’m just in this period of my life where I want to do everything I want to or at least try, and I want to keep that mentality this year.
