William Yang: Milestone

Photographer William Yang has been an observer, social chronicler and storyteller for most of his life. To celebrate his 80th year of examining his place on our planet, William is taking his photographs on the road. Milestone is more than a slide show: it is a celebration of William’s philosophy that “life is to be enjoyed!” But, as expected for someone who has lived such a full life, there are many sadnesses as well as life-affirming moments along the way.

William was born in rural Mareeba. His family lived at Dimbulah. He went to school in Cairns and went on to study at University of Queensland. He battled with double negative feelings about his Chinese heritage and his sexuality, until finding himself and his people in Sydney in the 1970s. You could say that he was in the right place at the right time – but he firmly planted himself there and threw himself into a creative life. Fortunately for us he chronicled it through his photography. He was part of the creative hub of art and fashion created by Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson with their Flamingo Park fashion boutique. He discovered the Bondi surf lifestyle and the growing Sydney gay scene. William then became friends with underground art icon, Martin Sharp (Oz magazine) and moved into Sharp’s house and artists commune, Wirian, where the inhabitants were surrounded by Sharp’s restoration pieces from Luna Park. He was in Sydney at the right time to document gay rights campaigns and the start of Mardi Gras. Of course, that also means he was impacted by the AIDS epidemic and the sadness that was to come.

Having embraced Taoism, William eventually rediscovered and reclaimed his Chinese heritage and its philosophical teaching gives William’s presentation style an inherent calmness. Combined with his natural cheekiness for observation, he is a brilliant presenter of his works and teller of his own personal tales. His photos of his first trip to China were emotional and his story about a spiritual awakening due to the compassion of Chinese factory workers he photographed was surprising and uplifting. He also shares his family and extended family with the audience. The photos he has written over with individual stories are beautiful and insightful, and William’s journey to discover himself is inspiring – a journey that he continues into his next decades I hasten to add! A gorgeous, cinematic soundtrack was composed and played on piano by Elena Kats-Chernin, an Australian composer and performer who has written extensively for opera, ballet and orchestras, and who wrote the score for the award-winning Memoir of a Snail. The music was performed by Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra to underscore groups of photos that William curated thematically in an arc that took us from his birth in Mareeba, family life in Cairns, and on to Sydney, life with his partner, travels to China and America where a large part of his family live today.

An exhibition of his photos would be wonderful, but to hear William speak about his experience while viewing the images is a privilege. After the Brisbane Festival, William tours to Adelaide in October.

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Victor Frankowski

Find out more: www.adelaidetownhall.com.au/events/milestone