Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
A first-generation Chinese American, Baldwin Lee is a photographer and educator known for his photographs of Black communities in the American South. Lee received a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1972) where he studied photography with Minor White, and went on to receive an master's of fine arts from Yale University (1975) where he studied with Walker Evans. In 1982, he became an art professor at the University of Tennessee, where he founded the university's photography program. He then decided to take a tour of the deep south, covering 2,000 miles over the course of ten days. During this trip, Lee widely photographed the people, landscapes, and cities of the south. In his work, Lee strived to represent his subjects as individuals with vibrant personalities, rather than reducing them to stereotypes or emphasizing their poverty. Lee’s work is in the collections of George Eastman Museum. Hear about Lee's journey and artistic process as a photographer and educator during his talk.
A first-generation Chinese American, Baldwin Lee is a photographer and educator known for his photographs of Black communities in the American South. Lee received a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1972) where he studied photography with Minor White, and went on to receive an master's of fine arts from Yale University (1975) where he studied with Walker Evans. In 1982, he became an art professor at the University of Tennessee, where he founded the university's photography program. He then decided to take a tour of the deep south, covering 2,000 miles over the course of ten days. During this trip, Lee widely photographed the people, landscapes, and cities of the south. In his work, Lee strived to represent his subjects as individuals with vibrant personalities, rather than reducing them to stereotypes or emphasizing their poverty. Lee’s work is in the collections of George Eastman Museum. Hear about Lee's journey and artistic process as a photographer and educator during his talk.
