About THOMAS LEE


Born 1982 in Taipei, raised in Hong Kong, educated in Chicago, and now based in New York and Hong Kong, Thomas meanders between the East and the West working as a journalist-artist. He aspires to distill the abstract and the sublime from reality, to create works that are both reportage and fiction.

He has completed multiple award-winning photo projects in Afghanistan, Uganda, Cuba, Ghana, China, and the United States, on subjects ranging from the legacy of war, to various cultural identities, to China's contemporary transformation. He was nominated Discovery of the Year at the 2006 Lucie Awards, dubbed the Oscars of photography.

His work has participated in group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, Cologne, and London, and has been published in Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, CNNGo, The Huffington Post, Asia Weekly, Modern Weekly, CAN, PDN, American Photo, TOKION, THEME, NEED, RESOURCE, among other U.S. and international publications.

AWARDS

2009 Px3 Prix de la Photographie "Water" Competition, Honorable Mention

2008 Px3 Prix de la Photographie Human Condition Exhibition, Exhibit Winner

2007 Folio Awards Ozzie "Best Use of Photography" Gold Winner, for NEED magazine

2006 American Photo Images of the Year, Honorable Mention in Photojournalism

2006 Lucie Awards: Discovery of the Year, Nominee

2006 International Photography Awards, Nonprofessional

  • Editorial Photographer of the Year
  • 1st, 2nd Place and 2 Honorable Mention in Feature Story
  • 1st Place and 1 Honorable Mention in People
  • Honorable Mention in Fine Art

2006 PDN PIX Awards: Personal Project Merit

2005 Illinois Press Photographers Association Student Best of Photojournalism

  • Photographer of the Year
  • 1st, 2nd, Honorable Mention Picture Stories
  • 2nd Place Pictorial

2005 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Awards: 1st Place feature Portfolio

2005 Ed Paschke Memorial Award: Outstanding Artist

2004, 2005 The Kay Krieghbaum Memorial Photography Contest: Winner

EXHIBITIONS

2008 Px3 Human Condition Exhibition
Farmani Gallery, New York | Aug 21-31, 2008
Acte 2 Galerie, Paris | Premiere June 27, 2008
Farmani Gallery, Los Angeles | March 6-31, 2008

2007 American Photo Images of the Year 2007 Exhibit
SplashLight Studio, New York | December 7, 2006

2006 International Photography Awards Best of Show
Touring six countries | January 26 - February 1, 2007

2006 Kein Mensch Ist Illegal (No One Is Illegal)
Köln International School of Design, Cologne | December 3, 2006

2006 Ian Parry Scholarship Exhibition
Getty Image Gallery, London | August 22, 2006

2006 Open Shutter Multimedia Exhibition
Northwestern University, Chicago | Feb 24-26, 2006