Yang, whose previous shows include Friends of Dorothy and My Generation, has been a major fixture in the Sydney arts world since his first groundbreaking pictures of the trendy gay social scene in the 1970s. “I was a blogger before the word was invented,’’ he claims.
Specifically devised for this year’s Sydney Festival, I Am A Camera opens on two huge screens at the back of the tiny theatre, used for the projections of his glorious pictures. Stage right is the setup for the excellent musicians (Joshua Hill, Thomas Rann) who provide the rich, hauntingly atmospheric and at times elegiac score composed by Elena Kats Chernin. Sometimes there is plaintive cello, at other times softly tinkling bells and chimes; at other times still, it’s harsh, crashing percussion or blistering xylophone – all very effective, especially when we see the images of soaring misty waterfalls, or volcanoes, or the Barrier Reef or the creek beds where the Lambing Flat riots occurred.
This is, however, Yang’s story. Dramatically dapper in red shirt with black waistcoat and trousers, he stands imposingly front and centre but it’s as if he is talking to a much-loved friend. What he presents is an illustrated biographical journey, part travelogue, part family reminiscences. Sadly some of the people he has photographed and befriended have now passed away. Some succumbed to AIDS (which he chronicled in his 1992 show Sadness). Now, however, he is increasingly losing friends and family to the ravages of old age, although some losses were totally unexpected.
In addition to its dominant theme of family ties, I Am A Camera also looks at the fascinating history of the Chinese Diaspora, which Yang illustrates in magical images he has taken during several journeys. There are fabulous, exquisite photographs of food, landscapes, seaweed, an amazing volcano and other exciting events interspersed with shots of celebrities and crowded family photos. He presents images from various trips – to a major photographic exhibition in the Chinese city of Pingyao, for instance, and another to the French-administered island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean; to New Zealand, to California to visit relatives, and to the country NSW site of the 1861 Lambing Flat anti-Chinese riots with a busload of Chinese-Australian history buffs.
Yang as raconteur has a very simple, unaffected and at times charmingly witty style of delivery, offering acerbic asides on mundane things such as bowling club food. Quietly powerful and moving, this is a deeply thoughtful and compelling reflection on the meaning of life, death and the beauty of nature. “I am a camera. I witness marvellous things,” he says.
Indeed.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sydney festival presents
I Am A Camera
Created and performed by WIlliam Yang
Music composed by Elena Kats –Chernin
Production Manager and Operator: Gordon Rymer
Percussion: Joshua Hill
Cello: Thomas Rann
Lennox Theatre, Parramatta Riverside
January 13th–15th, 2012
Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre
January 17th–22nd, 2012
Bookings: www.sydneyfestival.org.au
