Biography
Jay Tang
Fine art photographer
Jay Tang (1981) is born in The Netherlands to Hong Kong Chinese parents. He was raised with traditional values of the Chinese culture and grew up with the sober and open-minded attitude of the Dutch. The duality and, some times, contradicting nature of both cultures has shaped him as a person and as an artist. ‘Identity’ and ‘Legacy’ have become themes that are influential to his work, especially since he became a father of three.
In 2012, Tang enrolls in the study Photographic Design (Fotografische Vormgeving) at the University of Applied Photography (Fotovakschool) in Amsterdam from which he graduated with honours in 2015. That same year, he was awarded the second prize for his project Son, this is your home at the Keep an Eye Fotovakschool Grant 2015 by the Keep an Eye Foundation, a foundation that acknowledges and supports upcoming talents in the creative and arts sector.
In the following years, he works on a series of abstract photographs, titled Everyday Landscapes, using everyday materials including paper, tissues, plastic bags and their shadows to create landscapes and calligraphy that harkens back to his heritage. The work has been exhibited in metropolitan cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Chicago, New York, Paris, Bordeaux, Venice and Hong Kong. In 2020, he collaborates with Anita Neve Galerie, to produce his first solo exhibition.
Over the years he has received various notable, international honours, including Exposure One Awards 2024 Photographer of the Year (Minimalism), 1839 Awards Photographer of the Year (Abstract) and Exposure One Awards 2025 Photographer of the Year (Nude).
Artist Statement
Everyday Landscapes is an ongoing photographic body of work in which I return to the fundamental elements of photography: light, shadow, subject and camera. Working away from the computer-based processes of my graphic and visual design practice, I use photography to work directly with physical materials and their visual presence.
The series originated during my final year of the Photographic Design programme, when a simple exercise photographing coloured paper revealed forms resembling horizons and distant landscapes. This observation led to a progressive reduction of means, eventually focusing exclusively on white, everyday materials such as paper, tissues and cushion filling. Through careful lighting, these materials and their shadows are transformed into abstract landscapes that reference the visual language of traditional Chinese painting.
What fascinates me most about Everyday Landscapes is how the work plays with the viewer’s perception of reality. The images are read through personal reference and expectation, while in truth they depict nothing more than shadows cast by ordinary materials found in the home.
