Corky Lee: Seeing Asian America
A4 remembers the late self-described "undisputed, unofficial Asian American photographer laureate."
Untitled by Corky LeeOriginal Source: Estate of Corky Lee
Corky Lee
Lee Young Quoork was born in Queens, New York, in 1947 to Chinese immigrant parents. As the oldest brother in a family of four, he recalls working long hours to help at his family's laundromat. His classmates nicknamed him "Corky."
After graduating college with a degree in American studies, Corky Lee was inspired by prominent fashion photographer Bill Cunningham and photographed events in Manhattan's Chinatown and the AAPI community more broadly. His parents worried that an artistic career would not be a lucrative path, but he was convinced that photography could be a catalyst for their common politics and activism.
“I didn’t want the AAPI community to be invisible,” he told Curtis Chin, filmmaker of the documentary "Dear Corky."
Lee began photographing community festivals, parades, and performances, as well as robust local activism in the area. In May of 1975, he photographed one of the largest protests of Chinese Americans, in which tens of thousands marched to protest police brutality after a Chinese man named Peter Yew was strip-searched and beaten without just cause.
Peter Yew Police Brutality Protests (In front of the New York City Supreme Court) (1975) by Corky LeeOriginal Source: Estate of Corky Lee
Peter Yew Police Brutality Protests
Taken by Corky Lee in front of the New York City Supreme Court, 1975.
Corky Lee closely followed the Civil Rights Movement, photographing prominent activists such as Muhammad Ali, Grace Lee Boggs, Yuri Kochiyama, and more.
Corky Lee, BD Wong, and Rocky Chin at an A4 eventAsian American Arts Alliance
Corky Lee and A4
Lee, a founding member of the Chinatown-based art collective Basement Workshop, helped establish what eventually became Asian American Arts Alliance, alongside other AAPI artists and activists such as Rocky Chin (pictured here with BD Wong).
Lee followed the rise of AAPI cultural leaders and artists at a time when there were few in the industry, photographing now household names such as Sandra Oh, Ang Lee, BD Wong, Margaret Cho, Yo-Yo Ma, and Maya Lin.
Railroad Descendents 149th by Corky Lee 2018 copyAsian American Arts Alliance
Mending history
On May 14, 2014, Lee staged one of his life's most significant works. Descendants Of Chinese Laborers Reclaim Railroad's History sought to correct historical photographs of the hammering of the final golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, which excluded immigrant laborers.
Corky Lee continued to photograph the AAPI community and carried a business card that described himself as the “Undisputed, Unofficial Asian American Photographer Laureate.” “If I don’t do it, I don’t know anyone else who’d do it,” he said.
While photographing an event during the pandemic in 2021, Lee caught COVID-19. He tragically died at the age of 73 on January 27, 2021, at a hospital in Queens. The community mourned this loss, lining the streets during his funeral procession and staging multiple exhibitions in memoriam of the late photographer.
In Memoriam
After Corky Lee's untimely passing from COVID-19, Chee Wang Ng curated Photographic Justice: A Tribute to Corky Lee at the Hon. Charles P. Sifton Gallery from May 20 – December 30, 2022.
Lee's work inspired a generation of Asian American photographers and community activists to document the lives and struggles of everyday Asian Americans. Photographic Justice featured such artists alongside a selection of his work: Tomie Arai, Louis Chan, Bob Hsiang, Leland Wong, his longtime partner Karen Zhou, and others.
A4's Lisa Gold spoke at the exhibition opening.
Corky's younger brother, Johann Lee, now manages the estate. He remembers his brother's political convictions as the reason he persisted despite discouragement and hardship along the way. He recalls Corky's belief that, "if we’re the authors of our own story, we control our destiny."
The estate is currently working on the first retrospective collection of photographs by Corky Lee, tentatively titled “The Asian America of Corky Lee” and published by Penguin Random House. It is edited by photographer and artist Chee Wang Ng, with an introduction by historian Mae Ngai.
Corky Lee by Alan Chin by Corky LeeAsian American Arts Alliance
Into the Dark Room
Lee leaves behind a large legacy as someone who paid serious attention to AAPI history when few others were looking.
"If we’re the authors of our own story, we control our destiny."
–Corky Lee
Special thanks to the Estate of Corky Lee.
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