William Yang's 60-Year Archive of LGBTQ+ Life on View at TarraWarra
At the age of 82, photographer William Yang is celebrating his 60-year journey of documenting LGBTQ+ life in Australia, with his work featured in 'Inside the Mirage' at the TarraWarra Museum of Art until 1 November. Since relocating to Sydney in the late 1960s, Yang has captured between 500,000 and 1 million images, chronicling the gay community from the 1970s, through the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to the achievement of marriage equality in 2017. The exhibition includes seven pieces from 'My Uncle's Murder' (2008), which recounts the 1922 murder of his uncle, William Fang Yuen. The State Library of New South Wales possesses around 50,000 of Yang's negatives and is in talks to acquire additional works. Yang is also developing a nude photography book titled 'The Male Body'.
Key facts
- William Yang is 82 years old.
- Exhibition 'Inside the Mirage' is at TarraWarra Museum of Art until 1 November.
- Yang has taken between 500,000 and 1 million photographs since the late 1960s.
- His uncle William Fang Yuen was killed in 1922 in far north Queensland.
- The State Library of New South Wales acquired about 50,000 negatives from the 1970s.
- Yang is working on a book of nudes titled 'The Male Body'.
- A portrait of Yang by Kean Onn See was nominated for the Archibald Prize.
- Yang came out as gay in his late 20s and 'came out as Chinese' in his mid-30s.
Entities
Artists
- William Yang
- Kean Onn See
- Patrick White
- Barbara Blackman
- Brett Whiteley
- Max Dupain
- Cate Blanchett
- Sam Neill
Institutions
- TarraWarra Museum of Art
- State Library of New South Wales
- Archibald Prize
- Guardian
Locations
- Sydney
- Australia
- Victoria
- Innisfail
- Queensland