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

Early life

Leslie Kee was born on 5 April 1971, 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 Tiong Bahru is a housing estate located within the Bukit Merah Planning Area, in the Central Region of Singapore. Tiong Bahru was constructed in the 1920s by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to the Housing Development Board and ...

. They were very poor and have no relatives around to help them up. He attended Bukit Ho Swee East School and

Victoria School Victoria School (VS) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap, Singapore. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to skip t ...

. 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 was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...

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.

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 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 is a Japanese-Taiwanese actor and singer. Beginning his career as a pop idol, he has since moved his focus towards the film industry, where he achieved both commercial success and critical acclaim. He has worked with directors throughout East A ...

. 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''. 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 Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' GQ'', ''

ELLE ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''

Harper’s Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', ''

L'Officiel ''L'Officiel'' () is a French fashion magazine with a USA edition. It has been published in Paris since 1921 and targets upper-income, educated women aged from 25 to 49. In 2006, it had a circulation of 101,719. A men's edition of ''L'Officiel'', ' ...

'' , ''

ESQUIRE Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' and '' V''and many others. Kee's celebrity portraits include

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, Beyonce,

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

Jay Chou Jay Chou ( zh, t=周杰倫, s=周杰伦, poj=Chiu Kia̍t-lûn, p=Zhōu Jiélún, first=t, w=Chou Chieh-lun; born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, actor, and television personality. Dubbed the " King ...

Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi (; ; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in '' The Road Home'' (1999). She later gained international recognition for her role in ...

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

and

Yumi Matsutoya , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. Generally the writer of both the lyrics and the music in her songs, she is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice and live performances, and is one of the most prominent figures ...

. His advertising clients include Gap, H&M,

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world and ...

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

, Espirit,

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

Isetan ( unlisted on March 26, 2008, ) is a Japanese department store. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Isetan has branches throughout Japan and South East Asia, including in Jinan, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Shanghai, Singapore and Tianjin, and formerly in Ba ...

, Uniqlo, Tiffany,

Rakuten () is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing financial technology, as well as digital content and communicati ...

Softbank is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...

and

Yohji Yamamoto is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Considered a master tailor alongside those such as Madeleine Vionnet, he is known for his avant-garde tailoring featuring Japanese design aesthetics. Yamamoto has won notable awards for ...

. 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 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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kee, Leslie Singaporean photographers 1971 births Living people Victoria School, Singapore alumni Singaporean people of Chinese descent