Photographic Justice The Corky Lee Story Documentary Movie

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Photographic Justice The Corky Lee Story Documentary Movie Trailer HD - Plot synopsis:  A CAAM-Funded film tells the story of an intimate portrait of Chinese American photographer Corky Lee whose pioneering work documented the richness and complexity of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) experience for half a century. Lee’s fascinating photographs of daily life, cultural celebrations, and social justice movements reveal a rare record of a community often overlooked by mainstream media – and demonstrate the power of photography as a tool for advocacy and social change.

Transcript

00:00This is a story that hasn't really been told.

00:04Where do I begin?

00:05I've been photographing Asian Americans in New York City for 50 years.

00:09All these events, and who do you see?

00:13You see Kalky Lee taking pictures.

00:17You believe what you see.

00:19In junior high school, they showed the photographs of the completion of the railroad.

00:23I didn't see any Chinese.

00:25The audacity, they didn't want the Chinese to be photographed as part of the celebration.

00:29What was called history was not everyone's history.

00:33That sort of set my course.

00:35I think my contribution was for me to use photography as an organizing tool for social change.

00:42He did it because it needed to be done.

00:45I'm practicing photographic justice.

00:48At the height of this protest against police brutality, one of them swung a billy club.

00:56The New York Times, they said they didn't know of any violence.

00:59The New York Post, they had their photographer there.

01:01I said, well, my photograph showed something got beaten up.

01:04Okay, kid, bring it in.

01:06And I made the front page.

01:08It's really making art and politics come together in a way that very few other photographers have been able to do.

01:15I don't think people need to remember who I am.

01:18It's more important that they remember the images.

01:252001.

01:26September 11th happened.

01:28And that shifted my focus.

01:31There are Asians in the same uniforms as much as white Americans.

01:36Step. Step.

01:37That famous photograph was taken in 1869, and I decided that I should do something about it.

01:45The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago resolved through an act of photographic justice.

01:56If you're a photographer, keep shooting.

01:57The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

01:59The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:00The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:01The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:02The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:03The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:04The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:05The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:06The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:07The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:08The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:09The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:10The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:11The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:12The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

02:13The omission of the Chinese 145 years ago.

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