WHO IS MICHAEL JANG? Documentary Screening and Discussion

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 spent his career as a commercial photographer, many of his underground snapshots infiltrating and observing communities and subcultures have gotten little notice. Then in 2021, at the age of 70, Jang set out to get his work more widely seen.
Who is Michael Jang ? chronicles the work of an elusive, once-obscure artist at a flashpoint in his career. With storefronts across San Francisco boarded up at the height of the pandemic, Jang sees blank canvases on which to showcase life-size reproductions of his vintage prints. Like a graffiti artist, he begins to wheat-paste his engaging photographs on surfaces across the city. The work pops up in nearly every neighborhood in San Francisco, but particularly in Chinatown where images of his Chinese American family take on a more subversive meaning, especially amid the rise of anti-Asian hate and violence in the city.
The documentary captures Jang’s exploits as his experimental street art morphs into a meta-exploration of Jang’s own personal history and identity. In the process, the film bears witness to Jang getting reacquainted with his younger self through decades old images that resonate with vital new meaning today.
Come enjoy a poignant and fun documentary about the life and work of Michael Jang, a renowned photographer known for his captivating and iconic images. After the screening, stick around for a lively discussion where we'll delve deeper into Jang's impact on the art world. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to learn more about the man behind the lens and engage in thought-provoking conversations with fellow art enthusiasts. See you there!

Photos courtesy of pbd and SFDocfest

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, Robin Williams, and William Burroughs, 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.

Photo: michaeljang.com

Michael Jacobs has directed and produced documentaries for HBO, Disney+, ESPN, and Sundance Channel. His work has won awards and screened at festivals around the world.

Photo: pbs.org

Eungie Joo is curator and head of Contemporary Art at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she organized Kara Walker’s recent public commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), on view until spring 2026. In addition to producing new commissions, exhibition making, the and collection building, Joo’s curatorial practice is engaged with discursive and performative practices. Joo has worked internationally as Artistic Director of the 5th Anyang Public Art Project/APAP 5 (2016); Curator of Sharjah Biennial 12: The past, the present, the possible (2015); Curator of the New Museum Generational Triennial: The Ungovernables (2012); and Commissioner of the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, where she presented Condensation: Haegue Yang (2009). As Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum from 2007-2012, Joo led the Museum as Hub initiative and co-edited the publications The Art Spaces Directory (2012) and Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (2009). From 2003-2007, Joo was founding curator of the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles. She has published widely, including recent essays on the work of Cinthia Marcelle, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and Adrián Villar Rojas. Joo earned her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.

Photo: Courtesy of Eungie Joo

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