Colin Lee

Jun 27, 2022

Colin is an American photographer and medical student focused on surreal and environmental portraiture. Inspired by life and those moments worth capturing, Colin creates atmospheric images that resonate with our own best memories. In his images we can perceive his young spirit and hunger for discovery, which are excellent reasons to follow his career, since he also plans to get involved in the imaging world for artists and musicians.

First of all thank you very much for your contribution to our project. Can you please introduce yourself for us?

Thank you so much for having me, It’s an honor! My name is Colin Lee and I am a twenty year old American film photographer currently based out of Indianapolis, Indiana. I am a student currently studying and working in the medical field, and I am a part time photographer (although some weeks it overwhelmingly feels like I’m full time hahaha). My work is based on mixing surreal portraiture and environmental portraiture. I love showing people the beautiful complexities within themselves and the surroundings that they interact with. Life has such a richness and a depth that I strive to capture in a dreamy documentarian manner.

How did you start in photography?

I became interested in photography at sixteen years old, after my friend convinced me to join my school’s film photography class my junior year of high school. I was fortunate enough that the class had an excellent dark room and a charismatically caring teacher who taught me all the analog basics. This was the first time in my life that I ever felt a deep passion towards anything. After high school, I periodically left film behind and switched to digital. I formed a kind of hyper neon surrealism style that taught me how to make my photos dream-like; however, that only lasted about two years and I head over heels fell in love with film all over again. I began to combine my surrealistic work with my roots in shooting my everyday life in analog. Since then, I have never looked back.

What inspires your work?

When I photograph or look at other pictures, I have this phrase engraved into my brain: “moments of aliveness”. This means I simply am inspired by life. I am inspired by rooftop stargazing. I am inspired by my friends belly laughing in the sunlight. I am inspired by meaningful conversations. I am inspired by driving down country roads in the dark as lightning bugs illuminate the fields adjacent. I seek out and crave instances of depth, connection, and humanity. These aren’t necessarily moments you can recognize by any specific criteria, but more so moments you can feel deep within your chest. If I think that a moment in time has potential, I try to capture it and turn it into something more tangible – whether that is through portraiture, environmental images, or a combination of the two.

Who are your favourite photographers / artists?

I could fill a whole page of artists that I look up to, but for times sake, I’ll just name a few of my favorites: Ryan McGinley, Olivia Bee, Emmanuel Rosario, Wang Wei, Lukasz Wierzbowski, Theo Gosselin, Alison Scarpulla, Lauren Withrow, and so on. I recommend checking out all of their work!

Artistically, what are your plans for the future?

My main goal in the future is to become a full-time photographer and to continue photographing my daily life, whether that is portraits of loved ones or the adventures we share together. I would love to photograph more musicians, artists, actors, and other inspiring faces. Ideally, I want to break into the promotional imaging world for musicians. Every time I shoot with one of these people, I leave feeling uplifted and reenergized – feelings that I crave to encapsulate a career around.

What is your favourite photo book?

Again, so many great options out there, but if I have to choose its hands down ‘Kids in Love’ by Olivia Bee. That book forever changed the way I view photography. It showed me the power of vulnerability and the intimacy that comes with capturing raw, genuine moments in life.