James Fee (7 December 1949 — 4 September 2006) was an American

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

known for his images of abandoned factories and lonesome highways.

Life

Fee was born in

Knoxville, Iowa Knoxville is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,595 at the time of the 2020 census, an increase from 7,313 in the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Knoxville is home of the National Sprint Ca ...

. After graduating from high school he drove from

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and settled in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. While in San Francisco, he married Sharon Kitzman. Fee also lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Much of Fee's earlier personal work was made using a Graflex Norita 66 with a combination of extension tubes, tele-extenders and mid-century telephoto lenses. The camera and gear was stolen in the early 1990s during the creation of his "Photographs of Americana" series. Fee found it difficult to replace the camera and began to experiment using the Russian made Kieve 90 with lens embellishments. Fee appreciated the irony of using the Russian camera to complete the series. Fee's approach to photography led museum curators to give his exhibitions such titles as "American Noir" and "The Weight of Time". His photographs are permanently housed in the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts, the

William Benton Museum of Art The William Benton Museum of Art is a public fine arts museum located on the University of Connecticut's main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, US. The Benton houses a permanent collection of over 6,500 artistic works and hosts special exhibitions, c ...

, and the

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fe ...

. Fee once collaborated with

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

George Herms, who shared his attraction to the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

. During his later career, Fee taught photography at Art Center College of Design in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

from 1994–2003. In 1993 he taught at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. Fee photographed images that he thought represented

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

cultural icons in decline, such as crumbling drive-in movie theaters and rusting,

abandoned car Abandoned vehicles are decrepit cars or car wrecks or cars that have become useless in other ways, which are abandoned and illegally dumped in the environment. Abandoned vehicles will be tagged with an official notice when found or reported. Cr ...

Peleliu Project

Fee's father Russell James Fee served in the U.S. Navy as a medical corpsman attached to the Marine Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During a harrowing battle on Peleliu Island in 1944, he photographed his fellow sailors and Marines and the aftermath of battles. Russell Fee died in 1972. In 1998, James Fee traveled to Peleliu Island and photographed remnants of the World War II battles that still remained on the island, such as rusted and overgrown tanks, roads, and the tip of a sunken Japanese fighter plane. He attempted to photograph the same scenes recorded by his father more than 50 years earlier. In an exhibit he called the "Peleliu Project" Fee artistically combined his own photographs with images his father had taken. The exhibit traveled the US and was exhibited a
Craig Krull Gallery
Santa Monica in 2001 and then housed in the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts permanently.

Personal life

James Fee was survived by his wife of 30 years, Elena Stoyanov (NJ), and Fee's son from his first marriage, Illya Eric Isaac Fee (CA). Fee died in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. His death was attributed to

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

and

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. Illya Fee was at his father's bedside at the time of Fee's death.

References

Rourke, Mary. (2006, September 9). ''James Fee, 56; His Bleak Photos Depicted U.S. Culture in Decline''. The Los Angeles Times
* Levinson, William and Carol McCusker. (2003) ''James Fee; The Peleliu Project.''

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fee, James 1949 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American photographers Deaths from liver cancer People from Knoxville, Iowa People from Greater Los Angeles Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from hepatitis Infectious disease deaths in California