ASAFE GHALIB
Loving in Danger

Some moments in life only happen when we are open to it. Breathing deeply in a windy forest under a full moon, I felt the pull for change—a kind of transgression. Inside, I began to hunt the pleasure of being alive, —existing and insisting that, above all, I am a soul first. My dreams took form, and I discovered the beginning of my belief in magic.

There was no longer any division between reality and fantasy. It felt like unlocking the most pure and dangerous part of childhood. My betrayal of family beliefs sparked a renewed sense of intimacy with life, an exhilarating rebellion.

I am queer, I am gay, I am sad,I am angry,I am strong, I am sensitive, I am scared, I am talented, I am exhausted, I am trans. I am queer. We grow up in a society that denies us authority over our bodies, our dignity, our beauty. But divinity isn’t something we wait for in death—it’s here, available, when we put in the work and realise time isn't on slots and love is a mission.

Author
Asafe Ghalib (they/them) is an artist born (b.1990) in Nilopolis, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). They work primarily with the medium of photography in collaboration with the LGBTQIA+ community. As a self-taught artist, Ghalib has been exploring their own identity and relationship to the environment they inhabit, exploring photography as a way of survival and telling of stories that are being neglected. Coming from a religious family and background, Asafe’s work embraces rebellion in order to reclaim their identity and history. Asafe was one of the winners of 2021 “Ones to Watch'' during Photo London Fair in Somerset House and the Story cover for British Journal of Photography, also in 2021 the Creative Review editorial team selected them as one of the photographers that have made an impact over the past 12 months as their Zeitgeist winners. Last year Asafe won first prize, of the Profifoto New Talent Award 23/1 in Germany and this year exhibited at Melbourne & Victoria.

Website
asafeghalib.com

Instagram
@asafeghalib

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