PDF version
Bio
Michael Jang’s is a unique story. For the last forty years, he has earned a living as a portrait photographer, capturing iconic figures such as Jimi Hendrix, Ronald Reagan, and Robin Williams, among others. However, this unassuming Asian-American photographer has also been simultaneously infiltrating and documenting a number of groups and subcultures from all strata of society: from celebrity parties in Beverly Hills to the youth of Castro’s Cuba, from South City gangs to Old West rodeos, and from the punk rock scene of the late 70s to the teenage garage bands of early 2000s San Francisco. His images are allegories of particular points in time, characterized by their candid honesty, decisiveness, and vivacity. SFMoMA has recently acquired a number of his early prints and has exhibited them alongside contemporaries such as Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, and Lee Friedlander.
Education
Solo Exhibitions
The Jangs, University High School, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
Early Works, Curated by Laura Moya and Laura Valenti Jelen, Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, OR
San Francisco Days, RayKo Photo, San Francisco, CA
Picturing Modernity: Photographs from the Permanent Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
A Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks, Curated by Darius Himes and Larissa Leclair,
Gallery Carte Blanche, San Francisco, CA, and FotoWeekDC Festival, Washington, DC
Remnants: Artists Respond to the Chinese American Experience, Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco,
CA
The View From Here, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Slideluck Potshow SF II, Guest Curator, LeftSpace Studio, San Francisco, CA
Trace Elements, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
U Don't Like Me I Don't Like You, presented by Hamburger Eyes, O.H.W.O.W. Gallery, Miami, FL
Collections
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH
National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
Honors & Awards
Shortlisted for First PhotoBook Award, Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards
Top 10 Indie Photo Books of the Year, Photo District News (PDN)
Books /Monographs
Summer Weather, Signed Edition of 25, San Francisco: Owl & Tiger Books
“This is the Place,” Volume One, San Francisco: Self-Published
Artist Lectures
“Jim Marshall,” Pop-Up Magazine: A Live Event No. 3, Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Bibliography
Esquire (Russia), Summer Weather and Mel Gibson, November 2012
Leclair, Larissa and Darius Himes. A Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks: Selections from
the Indie Photobook Library. Exhibition Catalog, 2012
Phung, Linh. “On the Topic of Vintage Photographs & Asian-American Photographer Michael Jang.” AA Limelight, 29
May 2012
Dear Dave, Beauty Contest, 2011 Swimsuit Issue
Nitsch, Peter. “One of a Kind Photographer Michael Jang.” Get Addicted To… 14 February 2011
Smithson, Aline. “Michael Jang: Summer Weather.” Lenscratch. 25 May 2011
Brook, Pete. “Photog Distinguishes Himself by Looking Just Like Google.” Wired: Raw File. 9 September 2010
“The Jangs,” OjodePez – Quarterly Documentary Magazine, Issue #20, Madrid
Smithson, Aline. “Michael Jang: The Rip Van Winkle of Photography.” Lenscratch. 30 September 2010
Miesiac Fotografii W Krakowie (Photo Month in Krakow), Exhibition Catalog, Krakow, Poland
Livebooks. “Michael Jang: Photographers in Focus Video Interview.” YouTube. 30 November 2007
“The Way We Were: a family portrait in America during the ‘70s,” Theme Asian Culture Quarterly, Spring
“Western Union: Photos by Michael Jang,” PEACE Magazine, Moscow, Russia
Altieri, Michael. “South City Heroes,” San Francisco Examiner Magazine, 15 Dec 1996