Artist Research Paper

Jessica Li

COMD1112

First Draft

Corky Lee is a photographer from New York City. He was born in Queens New York. Lee’s parents were both immigrants from China. Lee’s father was a laundryman, and his mother was a seamstress. He captured the Asian American culture and Asian American history. He taught himself photography and how to use a camera. He would borrow a camera because he was not able to afford one for himself. Lee attended Queens College for his education and studied history. His journalistic photographs documented the struggles of living in New York City as an Asian American. Also, documenting the important events in Asian American political history. On January 27th Lee passed away due to the Corona Virus.

Some work achievements that Lee has accomplished was one of his photographs, he captured a Chinese American being attacked and brutalized by the police officers made it on the cover of the New York Post. Corky Lee’s photographs assisted generations of Asian Americans to see what a community is. Lee had a tribute exhibition at the Pearl River mart located in SOHO New York City. He also won a journalism award for a photo that he took. His work has been extensively acknowledged by many people. The major goal of Lee’s work is to convey and explore the diversity and refinement of Asian American culture and to get rid of stereotypes. Lee’s amazing work has been presented in countless of magazines, exhibitions, college campuses, and newspapers. such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Associated Press, The Villager, And Downtown Express. Lee is not only a photographer, but he also worked with the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council located in Chinatown, he was a community organizer.

I chose Corky Lee because I am inspired by his work. As an Asian American myself, that grew up in New York City Chinatown this picture shows the reality of being an Asian American living in Chinatown during the old days. I also really like to go out and take pictures in my free time using my phone or my camera. Like Corky Lee, my parents are also immigrants, and they would tell me how rough it was when they first got to America, working all day to be financially stable. Seeing his work, I can see what my parents and grandparents experienced. Without Lee’s photographs, I would never be able to see how life was back then. The photographs that Lee took are very similar to the Black Live Matters movement. Racism is a big problem and has been around forever. Exploring Lee’s photographs, I learned a lot about the history of Asian Americans and what life was like during the old days.

In summary, Lee’s photographs brought light to the Asian community. His work encouraged me to go out and explore my community. Having the same hobby as Lee really inspired me to take more photographs. He documented numerous historical events in American history. Lee is making me a better artist myself because he shows how passionate he is towards being a photographer. For this research, I have learned a lot about Asian culture and how Lee used his photographs to stand up for the Asian community. A photograph can have a lot of meaning and a story behind it. Taking pictures and documenting memories and history. Hearing all these stories about what they have been through to start a better life for my family from my grandparents and parents, I got to see the life that they experienced through the photographs that Corky Lee captured.

Here are some images that Corky Lee captured