Leslie Kee
Leslie Kee (born 5 April 1971) is a Singaporean photographer based in Japan.
Early life
Leslie Kee was born on 5 April 1971,[1] 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.[2]
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 Taiwan, impressed with Kee's skills, asked him to work for them. Since then 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 as a commercial director and photographer with works published in Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, L'Officiel and V.
Kee's celebrity portraits include Madonna, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Jennifer Lopez, Yoko Ono, Zhang Ziyi, Yoshiki, Ayumi Hamasaki and Yumi Matsutoya.
His advertising clients include Gap, Adidas, Shiseido, Levi's, Espirit, Lexus, Isetan, Uniqlo, Tiffany, Rakuten, Softbank and Yohji Yamamoto.
For his charity photobook Love & Hope (2011), which benefits the Great East Japan Earthquake, he was awarded the 40th APA METI Minister’s Award.
Currently he has been endorsed as the official photographer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Paralympics portrait messages project, collaborating with NHK Broadcasting.
Photo Exhibitions
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）
JIYOUNG 『美 GENTLE』（2016 June）
OUT IN JAPAN x 1000 LGBT (2016 July）
SUPER YOHJI YAMAMOTO issue 4（2016 September）
References
- ↑ "Biography". Leslie Kee. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- 1 2 Huang, Lijie (9 September 2013). "Snapping celebrities a dream come true for photographer Leslie Kee". The Straits Times. (subscription required)
