Yang studied architecture at
University of Queensland where his interest in photography took shape. Photos of architectural detail, theatrical performance and people became the content that later defined his work, particularly performance and people.
Early career In the late 1960s Yang relocated from Brisbane to Sydney, abandoned architecture studies and joined an experimental theatre company, Performance Syndicate as a playwright. While celebrity and fashion fascinated Yang, photojournalism began to preoccupy his interest. His first exhibition at ACP was in 1977,
Sydneyphiles, consisting of celebrity social photos and (more controversial at the time) images of the gay community. Yang became increasingly engrossed with documenting the gay subculture surrounding Oxford Street in Sydney and switched from earning a living with commercial magazines to earning commissions from the gay press . 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. Inspired by the autobiographical monologues of
Spalding Gray, Yang embarked on an international tour of his work
Sadness, a ‘monologue with slide projections’, which was also developed as a film, winning several awards including the 1999
AWGIE Award for best screenplay and best documentary selected by the Australian Film Critics Circle Award. Increasingly known for documentaries including
My Generation (2008 – stories of friends, sexuality and identity)
Blood Links (1999 - stories about the Chinese in Australia including his family) and
Friends of Dorothy (1998 – stories around the acceptance of sexuality, death and mourning) stemming from original performances, Grehan and Scheer contend that his performance pieces became a form of self-portraiture.
Later career In the last decade, Yang has worked closely with
Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) and in collaboration with
Annette Shun Wa has been instrumental in supporting Asian Australian creatives including hip hop musicians
Joal Ma and James Mangohig (In between two). == Works ==