Chief Judge Margo K. Brodie is pleased to announce the opening of Photographic Justice: A Tribute to Corky Lee, a group photography exhibition at the Charles P. Sifton Gallery.

Corky Lee was a passionate Asian American community activist and self-taught photographer. During his extraordinary 50-year career, he covered the exceptional range of life in the Asian American Pacific Islander community in New York City and elsewhere in the United States. Through his work, Lee became known as the “undisputed, unofficial Asian American photographer laureate,” a moniker he humorously gave himself and which he earned throughout the course of his life.

“Lee inspired a generation of Asian American photographers and community activists to document the lives and struggles of everyday Asian Americans and fight against injustice, inequality, stereotyping and discrimination. He was one of the founding members of the Basement Workshop, the first Asian American political and arts organization in New York City in 1970; organized Chinatown’s first Health Fair in 1971 and was instrumental in the formation of the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans that produced the first APA Heritage Festival in 1979. In 2014, he staged the reenactment of the 1869 Golden Spike ceremony upon the completion of the transcontinental railroad with Asians and Asian Americans at Promontory Summit, Utah in an act of “photographic justice.” This exhibition features the works of over thirty photographers from across the United States paying homage to their friend, colleague, and mentor Corky Lee, who passed away on January 27, 2021, due to complications from COVID-19.” Chee Wang Ng, guest curator.