John Yang (April 16, 1933 – September 28, 2009) was an American architect and photographer.

Early life

Born in China, he settled in the United States with his family in 1939. His interest in photography began as a child and was later developed when he was a student at

The Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-e ...

in Vermont where he was classmates with other future photographers such as

Tim Asch Timothy Asch (July 16, 1932 – October 3, 1994) was an American anthropologist, photographer, and ethnographic filmmaker. Along with John Marshall and Robert Gardner, Asch played an important role in the development of visual anthropology. He ...

. In the summer of 1951, he studied with

Minor White Minor Martin White (July 9, 1908 – June 24, 1976) was an American photographer, theoretician, critic, and educator. White made photographs of landscapes, people, and abstract subject matter. They showed technical mastery and a strong sense o ...

at The California School of the Fine Arts. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

majoring in Philosophy, and in 1957 he earned a MA in Architecture from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

studying under

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

. Before becoming a photographer full-time, Yang worked as an architect and continued in that practice until 1978.

Career

One of his photographs, "Blindman's Bluff", that was taken at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, France in 1960, was edited and used by the band Sigur Ros for their 2002 album '' ( )''. The John Yang Archive is at the

Center for Creative Photography The Center for Creative Photography (CCP), established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona's Tucson campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American ph ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Personal life

Yang's daughter is the American musician, graphic designer, photographer, and filmmaker

Naomi Yang Naomi Yang may refer to: * Naomi Yang (musician) * Naomi Yang (actress) Naomi Yang, born Yang Yichen, is a Chinese-born British actress. She is best known for her roles in the BAFTA-nominated film Lilting (film), ''Lilting'' and Sky TV series ...

(b. 1964).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, John 1933 births 2009 deaths University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni Harvard College alumni 20th-century American architects 20th-century American photographers The Putney School alumni American architects of Chinese descent American artists of Chinese descent