Michael Yamashita

August 17th 2012

5:00 to 7:00pm

8934 So State St. Sandy, Ut. 84070

Please RSVP at 801-233-9090

Michael Yamashita has been shooting for the National Geographic magazine for over 25 years, combining his dual passions of photography and travel. After graduating from Wesleyan University with a degree in Asian studies, he spent seven years in Asia, which became his area of specialty. Returning to the US fluent in Japanese, he began shooting for the National Geographic as well as many other American and international clients.

Yamashita is known for epic stories that retrace the paths of famous travelers, like Marco Polo, the Japanese poet Basho, and the Chinese explorer Zheng He. His feature documentary, The Ghost Fleet, inspired by his National Geographic story about the legendary 15th-century Chinese admiral, Zheng He, won the Best Historical Documentary prize at the New York International Independent Film Festival. His National Geographic Channel documentary, Marco Polo: The China Mystery Revealed, based on his three-part National Geographic story, received two Asian Television and Film Awards and was also included in the top twenty most popular NG Channel documentaries of the decade.

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A frequent corporate keynote speaker, as well as a lecturer at schools and workshops around the world, Yamashita has received numerous industry awards: including Pictures of the Year, Photo District News, the New York Art Directors Club, and the Asian-American Journalists Association. He has had exhibitions throughout Asia -- in Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Taipei and Singapore -- as well as in Rome, Venice, Frankfurt, and Perpignan, France, and in the United States, at galleries in Los Angeles and at the National Gallery in Washington, DC.

Yamashita has also published nine books: The Great Wall From Beginning to End; New York: Flying High; Zheng He -- Tracing the Epic Voyages of China’s Greatest Explorer; Japan -- The Soul of a Nation; Marco Polo -- A Photographer’s Journey; Mekong -- A Journey on the Mother of Waters; In the Japanese Garden; A Pictorial Tribute to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Lakes, Peaks and Prairies: Discovering the U.S. Canadian Border.