Just seen William Yang's latest one man show, My Generation at the Performance Space. He's a photographer who gravitated to Sydney from Queensland and as an artist have been the unofficial and sometimes official photographer for many of Australia's leading artists, including Brett Whiteley,
Patrick White, Jenny Kee...
For me it was obvious that Yang was an outsider, that photographers needed to be an outsider to take in the situation and yet an insider to be afforded the access.
He looked like an outsider too in his expensive charcoal suit and red shirt, brown shoes. You can tell they were expensive items, which were made for a caucasian build... not flattering to an ageing old asian man.
He talked too about discovering his asian identity late in life, which world does that outsider/insider belong to?
My favourite pictures were of and elderly couple, Patrick White and his partner,
Manoly Lascaris. There was one particular picture of the two old men sitting in their kitchen and facing the camera and you just knew they were lovers and will always be.
I'd like
Walter and I to be like that old couple.
