My series of work is a set of sarcasm, targeting the society that we live in. Our society is beautiful, but many parts of it are corrupted and biased. To convey such meanings through the images, I used still lives and other items to symbolize the theme. Most of them were made during the night because I wanted the absence of light to set up the atmosphere that I intended to make. The corruption of society can be related to many things including: money, death, environment, violence, and more. To change such a petrified society, I used art as my tool to communicate with the public. Art is the most effective medium to convey a message to the public. Unlike traditional methods such as speeches and writings, images are imprinted into people’s hearts more strongly and therefore can persuade people more directly. As an artist, I want my series of work to have an influence on our society instead of just being a visually entertaining work.
Kevin Lee is both an author and critic from New Jersey, Bergen County. He has always been curious about the social issues happening in the world. Watching so many social problems around him throughout the process of immigration from country to country, he decided to criticize the negativity of society through his images. Learning more about photography in the Teen Academy program at the International Center of Photography, he started utilizing lighting and diverse photographic skills to emphasize these heavy topics. The particular social issues he is trying to criticize cover various themes such as feminism, pollution, death, wars, captitalism, and more. His pictures were inspired by Banksy, one of the authors who criticizes violence in society through his art. To maintain his enthusiasm in photography, Kevin is keeping up with artistic activities by working as an editor of the Herald, a school newspaper, and as a graphic designer of JOURNEYS, a high school science journalism association in Los Angeles, California. Kevin is committed to continuing to criticize society through his images and aims to change society with the power that art possesses.