The self-described “undisputed unofficial Asian American Photographer Laureate, Lee used his eye to pursue what he saw as “photographic justice.” Almost always sporting a camera around his neck, he was present at many seminal moments impacting Asian America over a 50-year career.
He was born Young Kwok Lee in New York City to Chinese immigrant parents. He was the first child in his family to go to college, graduating from City University of New York’s Queens College.
A self-taught freelance photographer, Lee aimed his camera lens on a slew of subjects from anti-Vietnam war protests to police brutality. Over the years, his photos appeared in The New York Times, Time magazine, the New York Post, New York Daily News, The Associated Press and Asian American outlets. Most recently, he was documenting anti-Asian racism brought on by the pandemic.
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New York Daily News,
The Associated Press and Asian American publications. His most recent endeavor encompassed documenting anti-Asian racism following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“His passion was to rediscover, document and champion through his images the plight of all Americans but most especially that of Asian and Pacific Islanders,” his family said in a statement to CNN. Lee used his expertise to champion “photographic justice.” He is always seen with a camera around his neck and attended crucial moments impacting Asian Americans over his prolific 50-year career. Lee was there when the Asian American Movement protested the lack of jail time for the killers of Vincent Chin the 27-year-old who was beaten to death in Detroit in 1982 which was a time when Japan was targeted for the United States auto industry’s decline. The pair of laid-off white autoworkers who murdered assumed he was Japanese. They were convicted of manslaughter but were only sentenced to three years of p