Dance Like No One is Watching By Felicia Mings Independent Curator and Arts Educator When asked to describe his body of work Trinidadian-Jamaican, GTA raised, self-taught photographer Yannick Anton replied, “a lot of party photographers have people pose but I try to catch the moments, I think that makes it different.” (Anton) In looking at Anton’s images in Skin Deep: (Re)Imaging the Portrait it is clear that he has a knack for vividly photographing moments of young, hip, and often black and brown folks performing or displaying their identities. These representations may come in the form of dance movements or clothing or can be seen in the energy of a party, or by a person’s pose. In all cases, his images call for recognition of a distinctive coolness and style emanating from young Black Canadians (Rogers). Anton’s photos highlight creative, youthful, and often queer communities. His images draw stylistic inspiration from the fashion,
culture and the modes of Black communities from around the globe and across time. Most evident is Anton’s ability to articulate the lifestyle and values of a segment of young Black Torontonians. Parties are particularly fruitful spaces for Anton’s style of photography, as they are a place in which fashion, music, art, and performance coexist. The monthly party Yes Yes Ya’ll is a space in which Anton has captured some of his most important and compelling shots. Yes Yes Ya’ll is a queer-positive party that occurs the third Friday of every month in the city. This party is well known for its collage of hip-hop, dancehall, rhythm and blues sounds as well as its queer-positive atmosphere that embraces diversity of gender, race, sexuality, age, and style. From these parties Anton captures black and white photographs of people from all walks of life in motion, dancing, drinking, laughing and embracing. Anton’s use of black and white accentuates the drama and performativity of each subject in the moments he captures them. The flash of his camera dramatizes his subject, highlighting the sheen of their skin, the shine of nail polish or the sparkle of jewelry. The periphery of the main figure is often shrouded in shadow. People are the central focus of Anton’s photos as he deemphasizes the background environment in order to bring attention to individuals and their performed identities. As a queer-positive party, many of the party-goers’ identities are not always embraced by main17