I met Minny Lee at Palm Springs Photo Festival last year, and I continue to revisit her beautiful quiet trees when I need to breathe deep and slow down from everything happening around me. The dreamlike quality of the images, the subtle movement, the quiet all move me to a place of peace. Take a look for yourself.

Encounters

I constantly revisit personal memories and history through photography, focusing and reflecting on the inner self rather than striving to represent reality. I am interested in the coexistence between absence and presence, past and present and dream and reality. The unseen and invisible attract me for their imaginative possibilities. Curiosity leads to motivation. Mystery raises questions. Ambiguity suggests multiplicity. For me these are important aspects of photography. Living equally in South Korea and the USA, I am influenced by both Eastern and Western arts and philosophies. When presenting the work, I am interested in inviting viewer’s interaction with my work, which I have been tried with artist book and installation along with the prints.

The Encounters (2008-2010) series is portraits of trees reflecting my inner state and childhood memories from a countryside in Korea. The cycle of nature was nothing extraordinary but it subconsciously developed in me a sense of time. Later in my life, I lived in different cities but these childhood memories were inscribed in my mind. Most images were taken around my house in New Jersey while some were taken from travels in France. I see each tree with its own personality. Many images are from winter when I can see trees’ silhouettes better. Many images are from night. Night emanate an entirely different mood from daytime. Dark, scary, uncertain moods dominate. To be in the nature is a humbling experience.

About Minny Lee

Minny Lee, a native of Seoul, South Korea is a New York area-based photographer. In 2008, Lee graduated from the International Center of Photography in New York City. From 2009 to 2011, Lee was selected and awarded a grant to attend the Reflexions Masterclass in Europe, a two-year seminar that cultivates fifteen fledgling photographers annually. Lee’s photographs were exhibited internationally including venues such as Pingyao Photo Festival and Arles Photo Festival. Lee’s photographs were published in several books including Fondazione di Venezia: Reflexions Masterclass IW in Italy and Mois de la Photo À Paris 2010: Paris Collectionne in France. Some of Lee’s hand-made artist books were included in Photo Book Fair in South Korea and CCNY Zine and Self-published Photo Book Fair in New York. Lee is currently finalizing her Master’s Degree Thesis in Art History.

to see more of Minny’s beautiful work, please log onto her website.