An elderly couple stand arm in arm outside a brick building

Eight works from Australian photographer Anna Zhu’s Yah Yah series (2008) have recently been added to the Library’s collection. 

Yah Yah tells the story of Zhu’s grandparents’ intimate closeness in a collection of understated, candid stills. The series explores the artist’s Chinese Australian heritage and the impact of her grandparents’ migration to Australia in 1998. 

The evocative images capture a relationship in a domestic setting and hint at broader themes of isolation and loneliness within migrant communities. 

Explore Yah Yah in Trove

A woman helps her husband put on his winter hat
Anna Zhu, Devotion, Yah Yah, 2008 nla.obj-2988779894

Hands are visible rifling through papers on a wooden counter
Anna Zhu, Diaries, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988779974
An elderly couple stand arm in arm outside a brick building
Anna Zhu, Home, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988779738
A man stands in a cluttered kitchen with broken cabinet doors
Anna Zhu, Making Do, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988779818
A man sits with an open book; a woman stands against a cabinet in the background
Anna Zhu, Memory, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988780214
A close-up of an elderly man looking directly into the camera
Anna Zhu, Strength, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988780295
A man stands outside a tall wooden fence in daylight
Anna Zhu, Winter, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988780057
Hands hold a small black and white photograph of a man up to the camera
Anna Zhu, Youth, Yah Yah, 2008, nla.obj-2988780134

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

ENTER SITE