WE ARE FAMILY
FROM NOVEMBER 2017 ISSUE OF WEST END PHOENIX
Through pop-ups across Toronto’s West End, photographer Yannick Anton is reviving, and reinventing, formal portraiture. For Anton, that means making portraits affordable, being an archivist for a broad community and updating old notions of what a family looks like. On the heels of his most recent event, in Kensington Market, he sat down with Huda Hassan to talk about why these images add up to something ‘bigger than just a picture’
Yannick Anton photographed by Taiwo Bah
HUDA HASSAN: Tell us what inspired the idea behind your Limited Edition portrait pop-ups.
YANNICK ANTON: This project – which gives people a chance to come in with whoever it is they love for a portrait – was an opportunity for me to fill a void in photography. A lot of people have cellphones but not professional studio portraits, and this project is a chance for people to get that done. The idea came from looking at classic portraiture – at oil paintings of families that were reserved for rich white families – [and] wishing that I had an oil painting of my grandparents from [that time period].
HH: Why was it important for you to make these sessions affordable?
YA: By making portraits affordable, we’re taking them back. We’re recapturing our gaze. I want to make a space to take photos that reflect the diversity of family in the world today. Family is no longer a mom, dad and two kids. It could be two moms with three kids or two dads and two kids. Family is also who you choose to take photos with; it’s about marking moments in time with [the people] you love, whoever that may be. Next year I want to do these events every long weekend and build an archive of the different lives in this city.
HH: What does it mean to photograph someone who might never have otherwise sat for a formal portrait?
YA: I’m hoping to have people become part of something that is bigger than just a picture. It’s about documenting their family and the growth of their family. I try to choose a colourful backdrop just to have a bit of colour therapy and create better vibes in the space. We try to set up a vibe that’s cozy, with music playing. I try to create a safe space for people to come in to. [The most recent pop-up was] in Kensington Market. The other events were in Parkdale. We try to make [the pop-ups] in locations that are easy to get to.
HH: Is this the first time some of these families are having their portrait taken?
YA: Yeah. There’s a lot of young families that come through, so they’ve got babies who are getting their first portraits. There’s also older families where this is the first time they’re getting their portraits done as adults.
The best part of this is meeting people that I would never normally shoot or meet. I want people to come through once a year and get their portrait done so that when they’re old and grey, we’ll have archives of these families from several years. Maybe one day we can take over a gallery space, and [have them] walk through a room of their family archives with their family. I think that would be very cool.
“We’re taking portraits back. We’re recapturing our gaze.
I want to make a space to take photos that reflect the diversity of family in the world today”
HH: Have you had your family portrait taken before?
YA: [laughs] A long time ago. I haven’t had a family portrait with me for a while because I’m always taking them.
HH: I read an interview you gave in Format magazine. You said that your family is your harshest critic. Does that motivate your work?
YA: Yeah, my family is my harshest critic. I care what they think. Anyone that I love and care for, I care about what they think of my work.
HH: What else motivates you as a photographer?
YA: What got me into photography was being able to capture moments in time. I’ve been taking pictures for a really long time. I was taking pictures at Yes Yes Y’all [a downtown Toronto queer party] for eight years, so I learned to see how time goes by in photos, which is really cool. That’s my favourite part, watching the progression.
HH: If you could sit for your own family portrait, who would be in it?
YA: [pauses] I don’t know. I haven’t shot myself. That’s a good thing to think about. I wouldn’t have one family portrait. I would definitely have to have different portraits for separate groups of the people I love.
I would do maybe one large one and then individual ones. I would do one with my boys, like KJ [Keita Juma], Matthew [Matthew Progress], and that crew, and then I would take one with my two grandmas. I would also do one with my family: my brother, sister and my mom. But my parents split so I couldn’t have one with them together. [laughs] My family is not a nuclear family, so there would have to be different portraits.
