Overview
Hatnim Lee creates vivid, large-scale photos of saturated colors—from fashion shoots to poignant portraits—with an ease that belies her youth. Following an internship with David LaChapelle, in 2006, Hatnim Lee continued to develop her craft in Los Angeles, CA, Brooklyn, NY, and Washington, DC. Lee's exhibition at Transformer featured a range of works reflecting her photographic interests over the last two years, and launched her new book: HATNIM LEE PHOTOGRAPHS September 2006 – December 2007.
September 22nd, 2006 marks the day Lee got her first professional digital camera. This Canon 5D has been by her side every day since. She started a blog soon after, while finishing her internship and launching her freelance career, as a way to keep working and make her work public. Lee states, “It motivated me to see the blog up. It was like my photo moleskin - those black books artists carry around.”
This exhibition and the accompanying book that Lee has self-published, reflect a visual diary of places she has visited, people she has met, and the experiences she had - how she lived her life – from the time she got her Canon 5D and started her blog in September 2006 through December 2007. The exhibition and book are a collection of images selected from Lee’s blog.
Lee states about her work, “Taking pictures has been a journey for me. There is always the debate of doing commercial or fine art photography, but I have realized that it is all the same thing. The difference is how you want to interpret it. I like capturing vulnerable moments. When a subject’s heart shakes hands with mine, it’s like being emotionally rocked by a moment in time. My camera goes with me everywhere. Whenever I see anything that gives me butterflies in my stomach, or ‘visual orgasms’ as I call them, I shoot it.”
The photographs in this exhibition and book are a hodgepodge of friends hanging out at Lee’s house, on location for National Geographic, working at her parents’ liquor store, editorial shoots for Anthem and Teen magazines, a Korean bus tour through California, running into David Arquette at a party, her family getting ready for bed, to everything and anything in between.
Hatnim Lee’s work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery 2005 & 2007, the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA 2006 and the Washington Project for the Arts 2005. Additionally her work has been published in several magazines including: Teen 2007& 2008, Anthem 2007 & 2008, Jane 2007, American Songwriter 2007, Hong Kong Cosmo 2008, DC Modern Luxury 2007 & 2008, and Music Connection 2007. Lee’s work has also been featured on the following websites: www.prefixmag.com 2007 & 2008, www.brightestyoungthings.com 2008, www.imposemagazine.com (2008); videos/films: still for "Eagles of Death Metal" video (2006), stills for "triptosane" film (www.triptosane.com 2007) and www.she.com (2007-2008). Lee’s work will also be featured on the National Geographic Channel as part of the press photo/photo documentation for "human footprint" which airs April 2008.
Artist link: hatnimlee.blogspot.com
