Photo exhibits can showcase many facets of life — and a life with many facets.
For William L. Yang, the 81-year-old creative is showcasing his photography through an upcoming exhibition at the Northeast Regional Library (2228 Cottman Ave.) on Saturday, Aug. 23, (noon to 5 p.m.) and Monday, Aug. 25, (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
The curated selection of snapshots highlights Yang’s extensive travels across all seven continents and 108 countries with a focus on human experience, landscapes, plus, intimate portraits of wildlife, plant life, and people from around the world.
Yang was born in Szechwan, China. As a young boy during the China-Japanese War, he traveled with his parents throughout Southern and Western China, the northern region of Vietnam, and the provinces of Kwangtung, Kweichow, Yunnan, Kwangsi, and Szechwan. From an early age, Yang developed a deep appreciation for art and a passion for painting, a release notes. That eventually grew into an infatuation with seeing art through a lens.
His love for photography came at the age of 13, and continued on while in college (he studied physics at Cheng Kung University in Taiwan) and grew when he immigrated to the United States and started attending the University of Texas.
His career has brought him to the Virginia Scientific Institute and working as a contractor for NASA on the Apollo Moon Program. He hails this time as enhancing his artistic skills through producing detailed pictorial mechanical drawings and blueprints, all while he continued to “refine his photographic expertise.”
But his roots are also closely tied to the City of Brotherly Love as well, and in 1995, he became the founding president of the Philadelphia Central Photographic Association. Yang is additionally the founder of the Asian Music and Dance Association, and locals can get a taste of all of the inspirations behind his work through this latest showcase.
Admission is free, and more information can be found online at libwww.freelibrary.org
