The Friday inspiration by Gallery Carte Blanche

From the current show (Sept 14 - Oct 18)
‘A Survey of Documentary Styles in early 21st century photobooks’
70 Photobooks from The Indie Photobook Library and a selection of prints by 6 very talented photographers.

Meet the very talented and unique Mr. Michael Jang and get a chance to get one of his prints before they’re gone…

Contact us for more info about his work, his prints and his book ‘Summer Weather’.

Michael Jang

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. Jang refers to himself as the Rip Van Winkle of photography because his work is now resurfacing in a new light. 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.

Summer Weather

“In 1983, a local TV station held a contest for anyone who wanted a chance at reporting the weather. My role was to take head shots of contestants after each screen test. Five winners were chosen out of nearly one hundred applicants. The pictures were never used, but I developed the negatives anyway (without proofing them). These images had been lost until recently and I am seeing them for the very first time.”
- Michael Jang