Xposure 2026
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Michael Yamashita
The greatest thing about the Great Wall is the geography of the lands it travels through. Once marking the northernmost frontier of the Empire, it now runs through the heart of rural China, where the climate is at its harshest. This is the China least reported on and least touched by today’s economic revolution. It is this China that I fell in love with when I first visited in 1982.
Renowned visual storyteller Michael Yamashita has worked for the National Geographic magazine for 40 years, photographing wide-ranging topics throughout six continents. As the first person of color to be a regular contributor to National Geographic, his long career has carried him from the Great Wall of China to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and across all of his ancestral home country, Japan, on more than 30 major stories for the magazine.
After graduating from Wesleyan University, while on a “roots” trip to Japan, he discovered his two passions – photography and travel. His first assignments shooting for Singapore Airlines took him all over Asia while based in Tokyo and Singapore. Since then, Michael's area of interest and expertise has been Asia, especially China and Japan.
Many of his stories have focused on great explorers, from Marco Polo’s travels along the Silk Road to the epic voyages of 15th-century Chinese Admiral Zheng He and the 16th-century journeys of Matsuo Basho, Japan’s most celebrated literary figure. He has published 16 books, including Marco Polo, Zheng He, The Great Wall of China, Shangri-La, Along the Tea Horse Road to Lhasa, A Silk Road Journey, and In a Japanese Garden. Upcoming books will focus on a retrospective of his 40 years covering China, titled East Meets West, and on his roots in Japan, with the working title Full Circle.
A charismatic communicator, Yamashita frequently speaks at global photography events and has delivered TED Talks that reflect on his career, travels, and the evolution of photographic practice. His social media following exceeds 1.8 million, positioning him as a powerful voice in contemporary visual media and a mentor to emerging photographers.
In recent years, he has ventured into digital innovation, launching successful NFT collections that translate his archive into new contexts, including on platforms like SuperRare. Balancing global travel with grounded community involvement, he lives between New York and rural New Jersey, where he maintains his studio and serves as a volunteer firefighter.
Michael Yamashita is the author of numerous books that chronicle his explorations and visual storytelling, including:
• Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey
• Zheng He: Tracing the Epic Voyages of China's Greatest Explorer
• The Great Wall: From Beginning to End
• Shangri-La: Along the Tea Road to Lhasa
• A Silk Road Journey
• Japan: The Soul of a Nation
• New York from Above
• Mekong: A Journey on the Mother of Waters
• In the Japanese Garden
