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Installation View, Ukutula: Our Timeless Journeys, Museum London, 21 November 2024–11 May 2025. Photographer: Angela Antonopoulos
Anthony Gebrehiwot
Ukutula: Our Timeless Journeys

Anthony Gebrehiwot

Anthony Gebrehiwot is a visual artist and community leader who sees photography as an ongoing dialogue for social change. A self-taught artist, Gebrehiwot founded studio XvXy-photo in 2014, focusing on portraiture. His subjects appear divine, elevated and otherworldly to explore Black identity and in response to racial tensions in North America.

A Black man regards the viewer. The portrait is in black and white.
Self-portrait of Anthony Gebrehiwot. Image courtesy of the artist

There’s so many ways you can be an artist. And there’s so many ways you can thrive as an artist as well.

A frontal view of a gallery wall with digital photography and a rattan peacock chair in an art gallery.

Fig 1. Installation view, Anthony Gebrehiwot, Mahaba, 2024

A member of the Black Panther Party wits in a peacock rattan chair holding a rifle and spear.

Fig 2. Blair Stapp, Huey P. Newton of The Black Panther Party, c.1960-1985

World-Making with Our Hearts

The following text is an excerpt from With Opened Mouths: The Podcast. It has been edited for content and clarity. 

Qanita: Can you tell us about your first camera and what it meant to you?

Anthony: While I was at university, I was working a job at Home Outfitters as a stock boy. I’d wake up at 4 a.m., go unload the truck and then go to class at York. I’m in Scarborough, right? So, I’m going on a train and a bus, to get there every day, five days a week. I saved up my money from that job and I bought my first camera. And I used that camera for the first seven years of my practice or career.

 I was going through a heartbreak, at the time. I was changing my circle of friends, and I had a lot of time to myself. And so, I would just go on walks. And I remember, it was Halloween, I was changing all aspects of my life. It was sad. It was dark. But I remember I literally went out for four hours and I took photos of different things. And I felt that I had company, even though I was alone. I felt that my camera was keeping me company. My imagination was keeping me company and it was great.

Qanita: Your practice today is photographic but it’s also digital. At what part of your journey did you decide to take your photographic practice to the next level?

Anthony: When you do something for years and years on end, you get too comfortable with your flow and the way you operate. In 2014–2015, I remember being in Photoshop and my editing process was so automatic that it started to feel boring. And I thought “I love this. I want this to be a part of my life for the rest of my life. How can I spice things up a little bit?” And then I started going into Photoshop and I tried different things. Because I also knew, despite having a particular workflow, it was 1% in terms of the possibilities of what was possible in Photoshop. The software is pretty broad and very creative. So, I just started working with photos that I had already taken, plugged them into Photoshop, and then just started playing, just playing. That’s really what it was. From there, I discovered techniques that I enjoy. How can we make things supernatural? How can we take things beyond what we perceive on a day-to-day basis?

Qanita: Your work is special because of the direct connection you have to your community. How is it that you continue to support your people?

Anthony: That’s a great question. I’m going to tell you through a story… My friend Eric comes to me after meeting this guy and says “I just went to this event and I met this really cool guy from Scarborough. I know you’re from Scarborough. You should check it out.” So, I went and Randell of RISE was literally waiting for me at the bus stop, just waiting to welcome and greet me. And I thought “Who does that, right?” And Randell ushers me into the space. And I’m meeting people as I’m walking into the space. And then I sit down and twenty people are in this space. But they all look like me, and they’re all creative. And so, Randell proceeds to facilitate this event. And by the end of it, I realised that this feels like an act of service. You’re serving the people. And I knew immediately that I have to be involved. So, at the end of the event, I wanted to know how I could get involved. Randell told me that they were going to be moving to Scarborough Town Centre. So, I joined and started attending every Monday. The whole thing about RISE is consistency. They did an event every Monday with the exception of holidays. And it just had a feeling. It had a feeling to it. It was so magical. Imagine a youth-led organization, that caters to youth, with youth attending, and people looking to express themselves through all mediums. Poetry, dance, rapping and singing, you name it.

I don’t leave my community because that’s what built me and why would I leave the thing that built me? Why would I leave the community that helped build me up? And so, I always try to be involved. Even when I’m not going to the events, I’m working with the artists that are going to the events. I’m mentoring. I’m teaching. I’m doing workshops. I’m always trying to give back.

[…]

There’s so many ways you can be an artist. And there’s so many ways you can thrive as an artist as well.

Full IMAGE CREDITS 

Fig 1. Anthony Gebrehiwot, Mahaba, 2024, Digital photograph series. Courtesy of the artist. Photography, collage and creative direction by Anthony Gebrehiwot. Art direction by Anastasia De Lyon. Styling by Kyle Gervacy. On view in Ukutula: Our Timeless Journeys, Museum London, 21 November 2024–11 May 2025.  Image © Alex Walker
Fig 2. Blair Stapp, Huey P. Newton of The Black Panther Party, c.1960-1985, poster print. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Yanker poster collection, LC-USZC4-1564
Footnotes
Image Credits