Leslie Kee: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 17:46, 15 August 2023

Leslie Kee (born 5 April 1971) is a Singaporean photographer based in Japan.

Early life[edit]

Leslie Kee was born on 5 April 1971,^[1] in Singapore. His biological parents were never legally married; both parents are Singaporeans his father is a police man and Kee's mother worked at a bar. She got pregnant when she was 23 years old. She raised Kee and his younger sister on her own as a single mother. Kee and his mother lived in a one-room housing estate in Tiong Bahru. They were very poor and have no relatives around to help them up. He attended Bukit Ho Swee East School and Victoria School. In his early education, Kee was reserved and seldom spoke in school. When Kee was 13 years old, a few months before her death, Kee's mother gave him a Minolta camera — it later proved to be Kee's influence in becoming a photographer. Kee took a job at a Japanese electronics factory from 13 years old to 19 years old. After his mandatory conscription in the army for 2 years at 21 years old, Kee saved all his money to relocate his life to Japan, a country which had greatly inspired him since his teenage years.^[2]

Career[edit]

Arriving in Tokyo in 1993, Kee was faced with a language barrier. To overcome it, he learned the Japanese language at a local institution. Kee worked 3 jobs every day for 5 years, he was well known for sleeping 3 hours per day since he was young. Kee saved his money and managed to apply to pursue his dream as a photographer at Tokyo Visual Arts School, majoring in photography, graduating in 1997. He was jobless for around a year, until in 1998, when the famous Hong Kong City Magazine hired him to work on a cover shoot featuring Asia no.1 actor Takeshi Kaneshiro. The magazine company Vogue Taiwan, impressed with Kee's skills, offered him to be the first Asian photographer contributor for the first Vogue magazine in Asia. Since then for almost 20 years, Kee has been shooting for VOGUE.^[2]

Known for his highly kinetic fashion images, celebrity portraits and art nudes, photographer and film director Leslie Kee lives and works in Tokyo and also New York for 10 years. as a commercial director and photographer with works published in VOGUE, GQ, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, L'Officiel , ESQUIRE, Rolling Stone Magazine and Vand many others.

Kee's celebrity portraits include Madonna, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Jennifer Lopez, Yoko Ono, Steven Tyler, Kate Moss, One Direction, Karl Lagerfeld, Jay Chou, Zhang Ziyi, Yoshiki, Jackie Chan, Ayumi Hamasaki and Yumi Matsutoya.

His advertising clients include Gap, H&M, Adidas, Shiseido, Levi's, Espirit, Lexus, Isetan, Uniqlo, Tiffany, Rakuten, Softbank and Yohji Yamamoto.

For his first charity photobook SUPER STARS (2006), he donated all the proceeds through the World Vision Organisation, for the victims of the Sumatra Tsunami Earthquake. For his fifth charity photobook LOVE & HOPE (2011), which benefits the Great East Japan Earthquake and donated all the proceeds to the victims, he was awarded the 40th APA METI Minister’s Award. Kee is well known for producing and creating charity art books and photo exhibitions, with famous celebrities around the world, to raise money and awareness, to help the needs. Kee has published and held more than 100 photobooks and photo exhibitions in 20 years.

Kee was invited as the first photographer in Asia to be a main speaker for Ted Talk in 2014.

In 2015, Kee started the big project Out In Japan, to support LGBT in Asia. Kee has been known to be single since his whole career as a photographer. Currently, he has been endorsed as the official photographer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Paralympics portrait messages project, collaborating with NHK Broadcasting.

Kee's works are well received in New York and Paris but he chose to fly back to Asia after 10 years living in New York. Kee has been recognised as the most influential fashion and portrait photographer in history of art and photography in Asia. He lifework has been inspiring and influencing young artists to pursue their dreams especially students in Japan, China, Singapore, Korea and the entire South East Asia.

Photo exhibitions[edit]

PRESENT BY LESLIE KEE (2001 August)

SUPER ICON/SUPER FANTASY（2005 May)

SUPER STARS（2006 November）

SUPER STARS in OSAKA（2006 December）

SUPER STARS in HONG KONG（2007 February）

SUPER STARS in SINGAPORE（2007 May）

FACES OF LOVE（2008 June）

SUPER TOKYO（2010 April）

MUSE OF TOKYO BY LESLIE KEE（2010 August）

TOKYO LOVE STORY BY LESLIE KEE（2010 November）

SUPER 流行通信（2011 February）

SUPER 流行通信 in MILAN（2011 April）

SUPER 流行通信 in OSAKA（2011 May）

LOVE & HOPE（2011 May）

MUSIC BY LESLIE KEE（2011 August）

LOVE & HOPE + FIVE in HONG KONG（2011 September）

SUPER MIYUKI MATSUDA（2011 October）

FOREVER YOUNG（2011 November）

SUPER LADY GAGA（2011 November）

SUPER AKI KOMATSU（2011 November）

SUPER AKIYAMA（2011 November）

POWER PEOPLE BY LESLIE KEE（2012 February）

SUPER JIN AKANISHI（2012 February）

COLORS OF HOPE（2012 March）

SUPER A/X HOPE（2012 MArch）

SUPER MAMA（2012 April）

SUPER AFRICA（2012 May）

SUPER AI TOMINAGA（2012 July）

SUPER ZUCCA（2012 September）

SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO（2012 September）

YUMING FOREVER（2012 December）

SUPER DSQUARED2（2013 March）

SUPER BARNEYS NEW YORK (2013 August）

SUPER LOVE（2013 October）

SUPER KEITA MARUYAMA (2014 August）

歌劇 2010-2014 -100th TAKARAZUKA REVUE- (2015 January）

SUPER TGC (2015 April）

OUT IN JAPAN x GAP (2015 April）

SUPER Y-3 ADIDAS (2015 June）

SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 3（2015 September）

OUT IN JAPAN x 1000 LGBT (2016 July）

SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 4（2016 September）

MODE & MUSE Parco Photo Exhibition （2017 March）

SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 5（2017 September）

YOHJI YAMAMOTO homage Photo Exhibition（2018 September）

WE ARE LOVE Photo Exhibition（2018 November）

BOOKISH Leica Photo Exhibition（2019 February）

References[edit]

^ "Biography". Leslie Kee. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
^ ^a ^b Huang, Lijie (9 September 2013). "Snapping celebrities a dream come true for photographer Leslie Kee". The Straits Times. (subscription required)

3. Wong, Kim Hoh (20 August 2017). https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/from-rental-flat-to-40k-daily-as-top-photographer

External links[edit]

Leslie Kee at IMDb

[1] "Biography". Leslie Kee. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.

[Huang2013-2] Huang, Lijie (9 September 2013). "Snapping celebrities a dream come true for photographer Leslie Kee". The Straits Times. (subscription required)

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|Singaporean photographer based in Japan (born 1971)}}
+{{BLP sources|date=July 2020}}
 {{Use Singapore English|date=September 2014}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
-'''Leslie Kee''' (born 5 April 1971) is a Singaporean photographer. He is based in Japan, having once worked in the United States.
+'''Leslie Kee''' (born 5 April 1971) is a Singaporean photographer based in Japan.
 ==Early life==
-Leslie Kee was born on 5 April 1971,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lesliekeesuper.com/portfolio/top.html |title=Biography |publisher=Leslie Kee |accessdate=10 September 2013 }}</ref> in Singapore. His biological parents were never legally married; Kee's mother juggled between working at a bar and raising Kee on her own. Kee and his mother lived in a one-room housing estate in [[Tiong Bahru]]. He attended Bukit Ho Swee East School and [[Victoria School]]. In his early education, Kee was reserved and seldom spoke in school. A few months before her death, Kee's mother gave him a [[Minolta]] camera — it later proved to be Kee's influence in becoming a photographer. After his mother died in 1984, Kee's maternal aunt became the guardian of him and his half-sister. Kee took a job at a Japanese electronics business. Subsequently, Kee studied at [[Ngee Ann Polytechnic]] but dropped out after one year. After his mandatory conscription in the army, Kee relocated to Japan, a country which had greatly inspired him since his teenage years.<ref name="Huang2013">{{cite news|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/lifestyle/story/snapping-celebrities-dream-come-true-photographer-leslie-kee-20130909 |title=Snapping celebrities a dream come true for photographer Leslie Kee |date=9 September 2013 |newspaper=[[The Straits Times]] |last=Huang |first=Lijie }} {{subscription needed}}</ref>
+Leslie Kee was born on 5 April 1971,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lesliekeesuper.com/portfolio/top.html |title=Biography |publisher=Leslie Kee |accessdate=10 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831195317/http://www.lesliekeesuper.com/portfolio/top.html |archive-date=31 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in Singapore. His biological parents were never legally married; both parents are Singaporeans his father is a police man and Kee's mother worked at a bar. She got pregnant when she was 23 years old. She raised Kee and his younger sister on her own as a single mother. Kee and his mother lived in a one-room housing estate in [[Tiong Bahru]]. They were very poor and have no relatives around to help them up. He attended Bukit Ho Swee East School and [[Victoria School]]. In his early education, Kee was reserved and seldom spoke in school. When Kee was 13 years old, a few months before her death, Kee's mother gave him a [[Minolta]] camera — it later proved to be Kee's influence in becoming a photographer.  Kee took a job at a Japanese electronics factory from 13 years old to 19 years old. After his mandatory conscription in the army for 2 years at 21 years old, Kee saved all his money to relocate his life to Japan, a country which had greatly inspired him since his teenage years.<ref name="Huang2013">{{cite news|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/lifestyle/story/snapping-celebrities-dream-come-true-photographer-leslie-kee-20130909 |title=Snapping celebrities a dream come true for photographer Leslie Kee |date=9 September 2013 |newspaper=[[The Straits Times]] |last=Huang |first=Lijie }} {{subscription required}}</ref>
 ==Career==
-Arriving in Tokyo in 1993, Kee was faced with a language barrier. To overcome it, he learned the Japanese language at a local institution. Kee applied to join a photography diploma course at the Tokyo Visual Arts School, graduating in 1997. He was jobless for around a year, until in 1998, when ''City Magazine'' hired him to work on a cover shoot featuring [[Takeshi Kaneshiro]]. The magazine company ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue Taiwan]]'', impressed with Kee's skills, asked him to work for them. Since then Kee has been shooting for ''Vogue''.<ref name="Huang2013"/>
+Arriving in Tokyo in 1993, Kee was faced with a language barrier. To overcome it, he learned the Japanese language at a local institution. Kee worked 3 jobs every day for 5 years, he was well known for sleeping 3 hours per day since he was young. Kee saved his money and managed to apply to pursue his dream as a photographer at Tokyo Visual Arts School, majoring in photography, graduating in 1997. He was jobless for around a year, until in 1998, when the famous Hong Kong ''City Magazine'' hired him to work on a cover shoot featuring Asia no.1 actor [[Takeshi Kaneshiro]]. The magazine company ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue Taiwan]]'', impressed with Kee's skills, offered him to be the first Asian photographer contributor for the first Vogue magazine in Asia. Since then for almost 20 years, Kee has been shooting for ''VOGUE''.<ref name="Huang2013"/>
-Known for his highly kinetic fashion images, celebrity portraits and art nudes, photographer and film director Leslie Kee (born in Singapore) lives and works in Tokyoas a renowned commercial director and photographer with works published in Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, V Magazine and other important glossies.
+Known for his highly kinetic fashion images, celebrity portraits and art nudes, photographer and film director Leslie Kee lives and works in Tokyo and also New York for 10 years. as a commercial director and photographer with works published in  ''[[VOGUE]]'',  ''[[GQ]]'',  ''[[ELLE]]'', ''[[Harper’s Bazaar]]'', ''[[L'Officiel]]'' ,  ''[[ESQUIRE]]'', ''[[Rolling Stone Magazine]]'' and ''[[V (American magazine)|V]]''and many others.
-He iconic celebrity portraits include Madonna, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Jennifer Lopez, Yoko Ono, Zhang ZiYi, Yoshiki, Ayumi Hamasaki and Yumi Matsutoya etc
-His advertising clients include global brands like Gap, Adidas, Shiseido, Levis, Espirt, Lexus, Isetan, Uniqlo, Tiffany, Rakuten, Softbank, Yohji Yamamoto.
+Kee's celebrity portraits include [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], [[Lady Gaga]], [[Beyonce]], [[Pharrell Williams]], [[Jennifer Lopez]], [[Yoko Ono]], [[Steven Tyler]], [[Kate Moss]], [[One Direction]], [[Karl Lagerfeld]], [[Jay Chou]],  [[Zhang Ziyi]], [[Yoshiki]], [[Jackie Chan]], [[Ayumi Hamasaki]] and [[Yumi Matsutoya]].
-For his charity photobook Love & Hope (2011), which benefits the Great East Japan Earthquake, he was awarded the 40th APA METI Minister’s Award.
-A Social Media star, Kee has more than 200,000 followers on his digital platforms.
-He has published more than 100 photobooks and been exhibited at countless solo shows.
-Currently he has been endorsed as the official photographer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Paralaymics portrait messages project, collaborating with NHK Broadcasting, as a lifework towards year 2020.
+His advertising clients include [[Gap Inc.|Gap]], [[H&M]], [[Adidas]], [[Shiseido]], [[Levi's]], [[Espirit]], [[Lexus]], [[Isetan]], [[Uniqlo]], [[Tiffany & Co.|Tiffany]], [[Rakuten]], [[Softbank]] and [[Yohji Yamamoto]].
-==Photo Exhibitions ==
+For his first charity photobook SUPER STARS (2006), he donated all the proceeds through the World Vision Organisation, for the victims of the Sumatra Tsunami Earthquake.
+For his fifth charity photobook LOVE & HOPE (2011), which benefits the Great East Japan Earthquake and donated all the proceeds to the victims, he was awarded the 40th APA METI Minister’s Award.
+Kee is well known for producing and creating charity art books and photo exhibitions, with famous celebrities around the world, to raise money and awareness, to help the needs.
+Kee has published and held more than 100 photobooks and photo exhibitions in 20 years.
+Kee was invited as the first photographer in Asia to be a main speaker for Ted Talk in 2014.
+In 2015, Kee started the big project Out In Japan, to support LGBT in Asia.
+Kee has been known to be single since his whole career as a photographer.
+Currently, he has been endorsed as the official photographer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Paralympics portrait messages project, collaborating with NHK Broadcasting.
+Kee's works are well received in New York and Paris but he chose to fly back to Asia after 10 years living in New York. Kee has been recognised as the most influential fashion and portrait photographer in history of art and photography in Asia.  He lifework has been inspiring and influencing young artists to pursue their dreams especially students in Japan, China, Singapore, Korea and the entire South East Asia.
+==Photo exhibitions ==
 PRESENT BY LESLIE KEE (2001 August)
 SUPER ICON/SUPER FANTASY（2005 May)
-SUPER STARS（2006年11月）
+SUPER STARS（2006 November）
-SUPER STARS in OSAKA（2006年12月）
-SUPER STARS in HONG KONG（2007年2月）
-SUPER STARS in SINGAPORE（2007年5月）
+SUPER STARS in OSAKA（2006 December）
-FACES OF LOVE（2008年6月）
+SUPER STARS in HONG KONG（2007 February）
-SUPER TOKYO（2010年4月）
-MUSE OF TOKYO BY LESLIE KEE（2010年8月）
+SUPER STARS in SINGAPORE（2007 May）
-TOKYO LOVE STORY BY LESLIE KEE（2010年11月）
-SUPER 流行通信 （2011年2月）
+FACES OF LOVE（2008 June）
-SUPER 流行通信 in MILAN（2011年4月）
-SUPER 流行通信 in OSAKA（2011年5月）
+SUPER TOKYO（2010 April）
-LOVE & HOPE（2011年5月）
-MUSIC BY LESLIE KEE（2011年8月）
+MUSE OF TOKYO BY LESLIE KEE（2010 August）
-LOVE & HOPE + FIVE in HONG KONG（2011年9月）
-SUPER MIYUKI MATSUDA（2011年10月）
+TOKYO LOVE STORY BY LESLIE KEE（2010 November）
-FOREVER YOUNG（2011年11月）
-SUPER LADY GAGA（2011年11月）
+SUPER 流行通信 （2011 February）
-SUPER AKI KOMATSU（2011年11月）
-SUPER AKIYAMA（2011年11月）
+SUPER 流行通信 in MILAN（2011 April）
-POWER PEOPLE BY LESLIE KEE（2012年2月）
-SUPER JIN AKANISHI（2012年2月）
+SUPER 流行通信 in OSAKA（2011 May）
-COLORS OF HOPE（2012年3月）
-SUPER A/X HOPE（2012年3月）
+LOVE & HOPE（2011 May）
-SUPER MAMA（2012年4月）
-SUPER AFRICA（2012年5月）
+MUSIC BY LESLIE KEE（2011 August）
-SUPER AI TOMINAGA（2012年7月）
-SUPER ZUCCA（2012年9月）
+LOVE & HOPE + FIVE in HONG KONG（2011 September）
-SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO（2012年9月）
-YUMING FOREVER（2012年12月）
+SUPER MIYUKI MATSUDA（2011 October）
-SUPER DSQUARED2（2013年3月）
-SUPER BARNEYS NEW YORK (2013年８月）
+FOREVER YOUNG（2011 November）
-SUPER LOVE（2013年10月）
-SUPER KEITA MARUYAMA (2014年８月）
+SUPER LADY GAGA（2011 November）
-歌劇 2010-2014 -100th TAKARAZUKA REVUE- (2015年1月）
-SUPER TGC (2015年４月）
+SUPER AKI KOMATSU（2011 November）
-OUT IN JAPAN x GAP (2015年４月）
-SUPER Y-3 ADIDAS (2015年６月）
+SUPER AKIYAMA（2011 November）
-SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 3（2015年９月）
-JIYOUNG 『美 GENTLE』（2016年６月）
+POWER PEOPLE BY LESLIE KEE（2012 February）
-OUT IN JAPAN x 1000 LGBT (2016年７月）
-SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 4（2016年９月）
+SUPER JIN AKANISHI（2012 February）
+COLORS OF HOPE（2012 March）
+SUPER A/X HOPE（2012 MArch）
+SUPER MAMA（2012 April）
+SUPER AFRICA（2012 May）
+SUPER AI TOMINAGA（2012 July）
+SUPER ZUCCA（2012 September）
+SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO（2012 September）
+YUMING FOREVER（2012 December）
+SUPER DSQUARED2（2013 March）
+SUPER BARNEYS NEW YORK (2013 August）
+SUPER LOVE（2013 October）
+SUPER KEITA MARUYAMA (2014 August）
+歌劇 2010-2014 -100th TAKARAZUKA REVUE- (2015 January）
+SUPER TGC (2015 April）
+OUT IN JAPAN x GAP (2015 April）
+SUPER Y-3 ADIDAS (2015 June）
+SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 3（2015 September）
+OUT IN JAPAN x 1000 LGBT (2016 July）
+SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 4（2016 September）
+MODE & MUSE Parco Photo Exhibition （2017 March）
+SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 5（2017 September）
+YOHJI YAMAMOTO homage Photo Exhibition（2018 September）
+WE ARE LOVE Photo Exhibition（2018 November）
+BOOKISH Leica Photo Exhibition（2019 February）
 ==References==
+{{Reflist}}3.  Wong, Kim Hoh (20 August 2017). https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/from-rental-flat-to-40k-daily-as-top-photographer
-{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
-*{{Official website|http://www.lesliekee.com/}}
-*{{facebook|lesliekeesuper}}
 *{{IMDb name|3924185|Leslie Kee}}
+{{authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kee, Leslie}}

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Japan
Artists	Photographers' Identities