Recompositions: Images of Patrick White in William Yang's my generation

This article explores William Yang's relationship to Nobel Prize-win ning Australian author Patrick White as documented in Yang's theatre work and subsequent documentary, My Generation (2008). Drawing on his photography, reworked as a performance in 2008 and then later as a film which aired on ABC Television in June 2013, Yang situates White in the social, cultural and political landscape of 1970s Australia. Building on Yang's subtle storytelling and image-making techniques, this article provides readers with a series of images, glimpses into the life and milieu of a formidable, yet vulnerable and wryly humorous writer. We explore the ways in which Yang's layered approach to storytelling allows contempo rary audiences to access often secret or untold stories, places and images of Australia - and especially the Sydney of the late twentieth century.