© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
William, Randwick, 1975/2008
William Yang, Melody Cooper
Portrait, inkjet print, black and purple ink on paper
Purchased 2022
William in Scholar's Costume, 1984/2008
William Yang, Yensoon Tsai
Portrait, inkjet print, black and purple ink on paper
Purchased 2022
William at Queensland University, 1968/2008
William Yang, an unknown artist
Portrait, inkjet print, white and purple ink on paper
Gift of the artist 2022. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Self Portrait #2, 1947/2007
William Yang, an unknown artist
Portrait, inkjet print, black and purple ink on paper
Purchased 2022
Self Portrait #5, 2008
William Yang, John Fukuda
Portrait, inkjet print, black ink on paper
Purchased 2022
William Yang
Australian Chinese
Previous exhibition, 2001
William Yang's art is about the telling of stories, his work is an intriguing mixture of philosophy, autobiography, social history and documentary imbued with a sense of the artist's own curiosity, humanity and humour
William Yang
'Feeling comfortable as a human being'
Portrait story
William Yang on his heritage and becoming a photographer in the 70s.
William Yang
Biography
William Yang (b. 1943) is a pre-eminent Australian photographer known for an intensely sustained body of work that examines issues of cultural and sexual identity, and which unflinchingly documents the lives of his friends and community and his own lived experience with curiosity, sensitivity and humour.
15 portraits in the collection
William Yang
In their own words
In their own words
Recorded 2022
Lust for life
Magazine article, 2008
Celebrated Sydney-based photographer and performer William Yang was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to produce a new performance work that premiered at the opening of the Gallery's new building.
Self Portrait with Light Meter, 1987/2007
William Yang
Portrait, inkjet print, white ink on paper
Purchased 2022
Poof, Gay Mardi Gras, 1984
William Yang
Image
Nexus, Gay Mardi Gras, 1981
William Yang
Image
Miscellaneous Obsessions #1, My Living Room, Bondi, 2000
William Yang
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, black ink on paper
Purchased 2022
Self Portrait #1, 1992/2007
William Yang
Portrait, inkjet print, black ink on paper
Purchased 2022
My Family in Front of Our Old Home, 1992
William Yang
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, black ink on paper
Purchased 2022