Baldwin Lee’s photographs of poor blacks in the American South reveal intimate moments of love and perseverance.
The 74-year-old Chinese-American photographer found his subjects on extensive tours of the region from 1983-89, visiting homes and businesses in ragged neighborhoods.
I discovered Lee’s work through Wall Street Journal photography writer William Meyers’ appreciative review of Lee’s current exhibit at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
Meyers in his article in Tuesday’s WSJ noted that Lee’s work shows art’s power to bridge different cultures.
After graduating from MIT, Lee received his MFA from Yale, where he studied with Walker Evans, famed for his photos of poor Southern families along with urban vistas.
Lee began the photography program at the University of Tennessee, where he’s an emeritus professor. He launched his Southern tours soon after arriving in Knoxville.
Like black photographer Gordon Parks, Lee captures individual dignity, richness of personality, family love and community resilience.
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