William Yang Talks About Photography And His Practice

William Yang (born 1943) is an Australian social history photographer, playwright, artist and filmmaker living in Australia. Born in Dimbulah, North Queensland, he is a third-generation Chinese Australian.

Yang's photography and performances span over 50 years and document the uncharted growth and influence of Sydney's gay subculture from the 1970s through to the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s and beyond.

Through the media of photography and performance, Yang also explores his own ethnicity as a Chinese Australian and the intersection of his ethnic background and sexuality. Yang has said of this time: "I see myself as a photographic witness to our time. I feel compelled to perform these slide shows as social rituals to unburden myself of the things I have seen."

Don't miss this chance to hear directly from an Australian photography icon.