All photos © Michael Jang

Who is Michael Jang? Trailer

Directed by Michael Jacobs

Michael Jang (b. 1951), a San Francisco-based photographer, has garnered acclaim for his dynamic and evolving career. Initially recognized for his commercial photography, Jang rose to prominence later in life for his compelling and often whimsical images that document subcultures, everyday scenes, and family life from the 1970s onward. Long overlooked, his archival works reveal a keen eye for blending personal narratives with broader cultural observations. Early projects like The Jangs, a candid portrayal of his extended family, and Summer Weather, focusing on weather reporters of the era, have been celebrated in major exhibitions.

His work is featured in the collections of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown; the New York Public Library; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Jang received his BFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia and MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. His contributions were spotlighted in the 2019 retrospective Michael Jang’s California. In 2021, he was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography, recognizing his continued innovation in the field.

Recently, Jang has ventured into experimental street art, transforming his photographs into large-scale, wheat-pasted installations throughout San Francisco, most notably in Chinatown and the Inner Richmond neighborhoods. These works feature themes involving his Chinese American heritage and contemporary social issues. His creative journey has been chronicled in the 2024 documentary Who Is Michael Jang?, which shares his journey, and the shift from traditional gallery presentation to dynamic explorations of identity and storytelling.

Michael Jang spent nearly four decades working as a successful commercial portrait photographer. Unbeknownst to the world, he was assembling a vast archive of thousands of remarkable images, authoring several now-iconic series: The Jangs (1973), Beverly Hilton (1973), San Francisco (1973–1987), Summer Weather (1983), College (1972–1973), Punks & Poets (1978–1980), and Garage Band (2001). Jang revealed nothing of that vast archive for almost 40 years until 2001, when he submitted a number of images for consideration to San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art. His work attracted immediate acclaim, and for the past fifteen years he has revealed those images in a series of national and international exhibitions and books. The artist’s first major monograph, Who Is Michael Jang?, introduced by long-time collaborator and SFMoMA curator emerita of photography, Sandra S. Phillips, offers readers an eagerly anticipated examination of Jang’s truly idiosyncratic oeuvre.

Read more: Who Is Michael Jang? at British Journal of Photography by Allie Haeusslein

Who Is Michael Jang? by Michael Jang
Atelier Éditions, 2019
Hardcover, cloth bound, 280 pages including a sewn insert at the back
198 black & white + 25 colour photographs
ISBN 978-0-99759-359-4

For 50 years, San Francisco based artist Michael Jang has been sitting on a hidden body of photographs taken when he was in his 20s. Although Jang built a career as a commercial and portrait photographer, many of his underground snapshots infiltrating and observing communities and subcultures has gotten little notice. Then in 2021, at the age of 70, Jang set out to share his work with the world. Who is Michael Jang? delves into the extraordinary life and work of an elusive artist at a flashpoint in his career. Chronicling Jang's street art, along with interviews from Jang, his family, curators and collaborators, the documentary traces the trajectory of Jang's career while simultaneously exploring his family history and personal identity.

Who is Michael Jang?
Production by Strike Anywhere, 2024
Directed by Michael Jacobs

All photos © Dean Snodgrass

Forced Air, 2020

Photography and Editing: Dean Snodgrass

Sound Design: Kevin Crawford

Dean Snodgrass is an Oakland-based professional who works as a photographer, cinematographer, and camera assistant with over a decade of experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. He specializes in feature films, documentaries, and commercials, primarily as a First Assistant Camera (1st AC). Dean has contributed to several notable productions, such as About Cherry, American Folk, and Wrestling Jerusalem.

Dean’s work spans various projects, including collaboration on video productions like a campaign for Covered California, where he served as the 1st AC in a dynamic shoot involving continuous filming in a Berkeley studio.

A Big Pickle by Dean Snodgrass is a photographic exploration that lies at the crossroads of personal narrative and methodical observation. Comprising 31 images, the series invites viewers on a visually intriguing journey through familiar, everyday spaces. The work captures humanity's persistent attempts to impose order on the chaos of the built environment—attempts that often falter, giving rise to moments of humor, vulnerability, and quiet absurdity.

With a distinct deadpan sensibility, Snodgrass uncovers the surprising juxtapositions, unintended humor, and subtle anxieties embedded in our surroundings. The images oscillate between intimate glimpses of daily life and broader reflections on the strange, intricate dance between control and disorder in urban settings. A Big Pickle ultimately reveals the peculiar beauty and complexity of navigating the man-made world.

A Big Pickle by Dean Snodgrass
89 Books, 2022
Soft cover, 56 pages, 30 color photographs
ISBN 979-1-28042-322-1

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