Career
The main goal of Lee’s work is to chronicle and explore the diversity and nuances of Asian American culture overlooked by mainstream media and to make sure Asian American history is included as a part of American history. Lee began studying American history at Queens College in 1965. In Lee"s youth, he saw an 1869 photo in a social studies text that celebrated the completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah.
Its construction had involved thousands of Chinese workers.
But the photo depicting representative laborers included not one Chinese person. Lee"s work has documented key events in Asian American political history.
This picture was posted in the front page of the New York Post diary, the day of the publication of his picture and the notice of that event 20,000 people marched from Chinatown to City Hall protesting against police brutality. Lee also captured with his camera the protests that took place after Vincent Chinese"s murder.
The perpetrators attacked Chinese with the justification that Japanese companies caused the loss of American auto industry jobs.
Corky Lee refers to himself as the “undisputed unofficial Asian American Photographer Laureate.” Lee’s photographs have documented the daily lives of Asian Americans as well as various historical moments in American history. David Dinkins, New York City mayor proclaimed May 5, 1988 to be "" recognizing Lee"s work as an important contribution to New York City communities.
