Who is William Yang?
I am an Australian-born Chinese, gay, who works as a photographer and performer.
What would you do differently from what you do now?
I would worry less, and trust the Universe to unfold as it should.
Who inspires you and why?
I was amazed in the early seventies to first see the photos of the American photographer Diane Arbus who photographed marginalized people in New York. Photographic subjects at that time were largely heteronormative, but she broke that mould and gave me a penetrating insight into the world of people who are other. I remember vividly a photo of a transvestite.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Politically I would be visible. Philosophically I would touch the world lightly.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
New Zealand is a place my partner Scott and I like to visit, he’s not an adventurous traveller, and we both love nature. There’s a remote area in the North Island I’d like to take him to, Lake Waikaremoana. It’s full of abundant tree ferns and moss and it’s like going back in time.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
I would take them to the Sydney Opera House in the early evening and walk them past the Opera Bar, an area which is usually buzzing at that time, and then onto the Opera House proper with the magnificent view of the harbour with the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a backdrop. We’d go into one of the theatre foyers, which is quieter, to have a drink. It’s the one Australian building I’m really proud of.
What are you currently reading?
I’m reading Helen Garner’s third diary How to End a Story and I’ve never read any writer lay themselves as bare as she does in this book. I do storytelling workshops and I tell my storytellers, to tell a good story you have to bleed a little. Every room of this book is splattered with blood, sometimes in deep pools.
What are you currently listening to?
I listen to ABC Classical FM, quite a conservative choice, but they play old favourites and new classical music I’ve never heard before.
Happiness is?
Walking in the bush on a sunny day with cloud. I’m usually taking photos and the cloud and sun give variations of light.
What does the future hold for you?
I don’t take as many new photos these days as I’m digitising my black and white negatives. It’s important that my collection of negatives up to 2003 when I changed to digital is in digital form as that makes it accessible to viewers and it also talks to other digital systems. It’s quite a big job and I hope to be able to complete it before I die.
William is joined by Elena Kats-Chernin and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the landmark commission, Milestone – which makes its Victorian premiere at Hamer Hall – Arts Centre Melbourne on Thursday 20 February, as part of Asia TOPA 2025. For more information, visit: www.mso.com.au for details.
Image: William Yang (supplied)