Johnny Yang

musician / photographer / filmmaker

BIOGRAPHY

Johnny Yang is a Hmong American creative whose work centers on storytelling through cooking, photography, film, and music. As a first-generation Hmong American, his artistic practice emerges from a desire to better understand and document the Hmong diaspora, particularly in response to the absence of clearly preserved histories within everyday cultural practices.

His interest in visual storytelling developed through time spent with his parents and other Hmong immigrants, where he recognized that many lived experiences, especially those tied to survival, migration, and resilience, remain underrepresented in mainstream media. Food became a central lens in this exploration. Through his mother’s stories and shared moments, Johnny came to understand how meals, kitchens, and fields held some of the most meaningful memories. The act of working for food and gathering around it reflected not only sustenance, but endurance, care, and hope for the future.

Through film and photography, Johnny seeks to document and honor these narratives, using visual storytelling to preserve cultural memory and deepen understanding. His connection to In Progress supports the continued expansion of his creative vision, providing a space to develop his work while engaging with a broader community of artists committed to storytelling and cultural expression.