Photographer William Yang has uncovered the true circumstances surrounding the 1922 murder of his uncle, William Fang Yuen, on a farm in far north Queensland. Initially told conflicting stories of a gambling debt or a gang involvement, Yang's research revealed his uncle was shot dead by an employee after an argument about the farm's accounts.
Yang discovered documents, some stained with his uncle's blood, at a local courthouse. The employee was brought to trial but was acquitted, a decision that many believed to be racially motivated, given Yang's uncle was Chinese and the employee was white. Yang stated that this verdict caused significant upset among the Chinese community at the time, who considered it a "great miscarriage of justice."
This personal family history is featured in the 'Inside the Mirage' exhibition at the TarraWarra Museum of Art in Victoria. Seven of Yang's annotated photographs detail his uncle's death and its impact on his mother, who was 16 at the time.