Sidibe, who died on Thursday, is known for his black and white studio portraits that captured the lives of young Malians in the 1960s and 1970s.
Critics say his photos of Mali's post-colonial period helped people see the West African nation in a new light.
In 2007, he became the first African winner of the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Biennale.
People on Twitter describe him as a talent whose images of popular and youth culture still resonate among young photographers across Africa.
Sidibe's work captures the lives of young men and women, often showing off a prized possession like a watch or a motorbike.
He also captures street scenes and young men seducing girls at parties with a sense of newfound freedom and identity.
Sidibe has work in several private and public museums around the world.
He became famous around the world after holding his first exhibition in France in 1996
Andres Magnin, Malick Sidibe's close friend and owner of the Parisian gallery which represented him, called the photographer an author "of thousands of images of tenderness and beauty".
"A photographer of the young generation of an independent Mali, untroubled, free, modern, full of joy and hope... He was generous, welcoming, loved by all the young people in Bamako."

Bridgend County Borough Council apologised following complaints after the new system was introduced on 5 June.
But residents said bags of rubbish are still being left on the street by contractor Kier.
The council said collections were getting back to normal again.
A stream of complaints has continued to appear on social media, with some residents saying rubbish - including bags of nappies - have not been picked up for more than two weeks.
Even First Minister Carwyn Jones took to Twitter to complain his collection was late.
Gareth Davies, from Brynmenin, said: "It's absolute chaos. We've had loads of delays - at one point there were ripped up bin bags everywhere in the street.
"We had the last collection yesterday on time but for some reason they didn't pick up all the purple nappy bags so now they are left out on the street."
Stuart Vaughan, from Newton in Porthcawl, said the situation was "ridiculous".
"In my street the collection is supposed to be on Friday. They turned up three days late but only picked up from half the houses.
"The rest of the street had to wait until the following Friday for their collection."
"Recycling has been left out on Porthcawl High Street for the past two weekends," he added.
"It's absolutely disgusting. It's a resort - the council should be promoting it not leaving rubbish on the street."
The new scheme aims to recycle almost all rubbish, with different coloured sacks for cardboard, paper, plastics and nappies and caddies for glass and food waste.
Homes with fewer than five occupants are limited to throwing out two bags of non-recyclable waste every fortnight.
But Mr Davies filmed refuse collectors throwing pre-sorted recycling altogether in the back of a bin lorry at a friend's house in the Broadlands area.
He said: "Why are they asking people to separate their rubbish but then it all gets chucked in together anyway? It's very frustrating."
A spokesman for Bridgend council said: "Kier put a number of short-term measures in place to deal with the backlog and help them get up to speed on collections, including bringing in extra staff and vehicles and working across the weekend.
"A few residents questioned why recycling was temporarily collected in some areas using a refuse truck, but Kier had made separate arrangements for this to be re-sorted.
"Despite issues experienced in the first few weeks of the scheme, collections are getting back to normal again.
"The new system is being carefully monitored and evaluated, and further changes will be made over the next few weeks to ensure that it has bedded in properly and is running efficiently."
Tributes are being paid to the award-winning Malian photographer, Malick Sidibe, who has died at the age of 80.
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Bridgend's new recycling scheme is still in "absolute chaos" more than three weeks after it was introduced, residents have claimed.