Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Sibrian.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Anthony. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My passion for photography was sparked by music and emotion. Growing up, I was part of my school’s newspaper and yearbook class. I’d always be looked at, as someone who was creative but never had a proper outlet to fully express myself. Finally, I took a photography course in my senior year of high school. This course taught me how to express myself through the lens of a camera – by freezing time in certain ways that spilled out raw emotion. At the age of 22, a close friend of mine asked me if I wanted to attend my first concert(EDM) with a couple of friends. We went to The Shrine in Los Angeles, even though I was very hesitant.
The reason why was because I had developed severe anxiety and chronic depression a few months before my 22nd birthday. He pushed me out of my comfort zone and it made me feel like I had an outlet to help me relax. I was not used to being in a crowd full of people, let alone a crowd that size. The only thing I had on me at the show was my phone and its camera so I began to take photos of the performance with it and was shocked at how calm and in my zone I began to feel. From that moment on, every show I would attend I would be that person who’d be on their phone taking videos or photos of these events. It was primarily for my own personal memories but it also was soothing for me. This eventually leads to a show at the Hollywood Palladium where I took a photo with my phone that perfectly stopped that performance in time. The artist that was performing went by the name of Excision.
Once I posted the image on twitter it got a lot of attention, and he retweeted the image which sparked a new love for photography with in me seeing all the reactions people had towards a frozen moment in time. I continued to build a portfolio with images and videos from all those events and began to send that out to close friends of mine to get an opinion on what I was capturing. 2016 – early 2018 I went through a life-changing experience that inspired me to chase my dreams by any means necessary. I bought an older professional camera and through a friend, I got my first opportunity to photograph a DJs set on Memorial Day of 2018. That very same day another friend of mine got me an opportunity to photograph another DJ at Avalon in Hollywood. After editing all the images and seeing the beauty of low light photography with a professional camera I was eager to get another opportunity to work in the field. Through Avalon and social media I became friends with a very talented photographer who believed in my vision and got me an opportunity to again photograph at Avalon. After a while, it became a place in which I’d be working nearly every weekend. I grew my portfolio and after shooting my first headlining act with a very talented duo named Fight Clvb. I gained enough confidence to attempt to make my dreams reality, I am forever grateful to them for that. After those opportunities at Avalon I got confident enough and reached out to a few artists for a music festival (Escape Psycho Circus) in hopes that someone would allow me to work with them. I just wanted someone to give me a shot at doing what I love, but now on the big stage.
A week or so before the festival I got a very unexpected email response from one of my favorite hardstyle DJ’s team, Lady Faith. I was on my couch sitting and in tears of happiness / in shock as I was reading that email only thinking about the fact that Lady Faith was the first Dj I got to see live at a music festival back in 2015 (EDC Las Vegas) and now I was going to be working with her! The moment I got on stage, I peaked at the crowd to see how massive in size it was and just thought to my self “WOW we’re actually here.” After that music festival I got the opportunity to work with many different artists and friends, both at clubs and music festivals in different cities and states. The only thing on my mind was the dream of one day being able to work at EDC las Vegas, Ultra Miami, and Tomorrowland. Fast forward to 2019 and all the blessings that followed and I got a shot at working with seven different artists (Lady Faith, Justin Martin, Ben Nicky, Westend, Niles Sheppard, Benda, and 13). This is arguably one of the worlds largest dance music festivals -EDC las Vegas. The moment I stepped on stage I had a rush of emotion…..it hit me and all I could think of was EDC 2017. Reflecting in being in that crowd with my younger brother telling me “one day you’ll be up there working with your camera and not your phone in the crowd”. I would like to thank my business partner James Gross, for believing in me and always motivating me to be hungrier and aim higher than whichever goals were previously made.
Thanks to the countless sleepless nights of work which developed a work ethic that got me to a place in life that I only dreamed of. I finally own a business, I am a part of a great group of photographers/videographers who began a media team by the name of RISK Media. I am also starting my own artist management group by the name of PowerHaus Management with two of my closest friends. The passion for freezing moments and expressing myself through the lens of a camera really changed my life. I am 27 years old, and if that tells you anything it’s that it’s never too late in life to chase your dreams. The road is never easy but if you are willing to put in the hard work nothing is impossible. I am excited for what the future holds and thankful for all the support my friends and family have given me on this wild ride. A special shout out to Lady Faith for giving me the opportunity to create with no limits. To be continued……
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Success, success is never easy especially when you take the road less traveled. The struggles I dealt with early in my career had to do with my anxiety and depression, I needed to learn how to not let that hold me back and be able to go with the flow of things. I began to believe in the law of attraction and that helped me in controlling a lot of my thoughts. Living in a huge city like Los Angeles which is full of very talented individuals I dealt with the fear of “what if I don’t get booked this weekend?”, ” what if I don’t do a good job”, a lot of what if’s. I started to take things a day at a time and focus on those long term goals by breaking them down into daily goals, I got rid of the fear of talking to others, asking for help, and making new friends in the field who have helped me find my own editing style, confidence, and approach to business. I was afraid of cold emailing artist or management in search of opportunities to work with them until I finally realized that the worst thing I could get from an email is a “no”.
Please tell us about Tonysib Visuals.
Tonysib Visuals is my own media outlet for content creation, both in photography and video. The name is an abbreviated combination of my name and last name along with the idea that we don’t just focus on photography. We work with anything having to do with photography but we specialize in live music photography and are known for vibrant shots that freeze a performer and/or crowds energy in time through an image. As a company, I am most proud of the clients we have had an opportunity to work with and build friendships with along with the quality of work that is offered to potential and returning clients. Every client gets unique work that correctly represents who they are as a musician, company, or individual. ” A pictures worth a thousand words” -Fred R. Barnard.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory has to be when my mother and father told me that I was going to be a brother to identical triplets, they have molded me into the individual I am today and have shown me what it is to have full and loving support.
Contact Info:
- Website: Tonysibvisuals.com and powerhausmanagement.com
- Phone: 818-468-5822
- Email: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]
- Instagram: Instagram.com/Tonysib_visuals
- Facebook: Facebook.com/Tonysibvisuals
- Twitter: Twitter.com/Tonysib16
- Other: Riskmedia.co / powerhausmanagement.com
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