Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story

Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story

Using his camera as a “weapon against injustice,” Chinese American photographer Corky Lee’s art is his activism. His unforgettable images of Asian American life empowered generations. This film’s intimate portrait reveals the triumphs and tragedies of the man behind the lens.

Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story

55m 5s

Using his camera as a “weapon against injustice,” Chinese American photographer Corky Lee’s art is his activism. His unforgettable images of
Asian American life empowered generations. This film’s intimate portrait reveals the triumphs and tragedies of the man behind the lens.

Previews + Extras

  • Corky Lee’s Life, Legacy, and Quest for Photographic Justice: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Corky Lee’s Life, Legacy, and Quest for Photographic Justice

    S1 E1 - 3m 2s

    A tribute to 50 amazing years of Asian American Pacific Islander culture and activism through the lens of photographer Corky Lee. From Chinatown garment workers, Pakistani families, Thai dancers, Tibetan monks, Filipinos against war, feminists supporting the ERA, Koreans protesting hate crimes, and veterans remembering 9/11, Lee’s rare photographs show the diversity of the AAPI experience.

  • Chinatown Rises Up to Unite Against Police Brutality: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Chinatown Rises Up to Unite Against Police Brutality

    S1 E1 - 1m 38s

    Lee’s photo of a bloody demonstrator made a Chinatown protest against police brutality front-page news in 1975. He recalls his determination to both document this unprecedented community gathering, and to demand that every news outlet pay attention. Activist Fay Chiang recalls this moment as being “the first time we showed city government the community could organize into a political force."

  • Documenting the Asian American Movement: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Documenting the Asian American Movement

    S1 E1 - 1m 2s

    Corky Lee’s rare images of the fight for justice, equality, and identity in the Asian American Pacific Islander communities on the East Coast in the 1970s reveal the foundation for AAPI civil rights struggles to follow over the next five decades.

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