Alumnus Photographer Frank Yourong Wang

If you were lucky enough to attend our 2022 Symposium in Dunedin, you would have been aware of a super friendly photographer in our midst who really helped add some fun to our event.

Yourong Wang (Frank) is now a doctoral student in cosmology at the University of Auckland. He previously was a BSc (honours) student under the supervision of Dodd-Walls Centre scientist Professor Howard Carmichael. Frank’s ongoing PhD research revolves around the nature and astrophysical signatures of a hypothetical kindof dark matter that can be modelled as a quantum fluid on the scale of galaxies.

Frank’s professional photography work mostly consists of various STEM events he attends, He also offers high quality images free for educational use, such as the rocket launch that he photographed in June 2022. He would also extend an invitation to Dodd-Walls Centre members that he can offer photo services should they require a portrait / product / lab /conference photo shoot.

How did you first get involved with photography?

I have enjoyed photography from an early age. My grandparents ’film box” to start with. My first camera was an iPod touch, a birthday present. I realised that Ido have a keener than average eye when I filled its disk space with photos of school and my neighbourhood just a few months in. I have never stopped since then.

I bought myself my D810 after I the first payment of my Outstanding Scholarshipfrom NZQA. That jumpstarted my venture into the professional realm.

Of course, I studied physics and mathematics for college. Quite casually and not connecting the dots until way after, I have also picked upskills in sketching, stage lighting, basic colour theory and projective geometry alongside my education.

Such training and knowledge enable me to appreciate the nature of my equipment and light itself on a level not many photographers can match. Underscoring this fact, I named my photo venture LUX (Light Utilisation eXperiment); It’s also a pun over the UC Berkeley motto (fiat lux), where I briefly studied and provided my first commercial event services.

My main forte is landscape and astrophotography, but also enjoy urban scenes and ,of course, events.

What events to you most enjoy photographing?

As discussed above, I am a student first and my availability is the fundamental factor in deciding what events I provide services for.

I enjoy serving events where I can learn things from. Academic /cultural gatherings and product launches typically fall in this category.

Please also note I have ethics policy on political events and other special topics.

How do people contact you for events?

My website is quite easy to remember: FWPhys.com/LUX, and people can email me at lux@fwphys.com

Further photos by Frank can be found through our Events link of the Symposium and again we wish to thank and acknowledge the energy and enthusiasm he brought to our week, we really enjoyed you being part of our experience.

Photo caption: Frank Wang with his camera visiting University of Otago when he just became a studentof the Dodd Walls Centre, 2017.

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