Nikki S. Lee

From the Skateboarders Project

My artist is Nikki S. Lee, a photographer born in 1970. Although she is Korean, it doesn't seem like that has held her back from being an active member in about every social class/culture known to man. Nikki Lee is probably one of the most dedicated photographers I've seen out there, in that she studies the group of people she intends to interact with, then she imitates their style of dress,  their gestures, postures, and then basically integrates into the subculture. She makes it aware to them that she is an artist, however whether they take it seriously or not is another story.

From the Hispanic Project

As a photographer, she is unique in that she isn't the one actually taking the photographs, instead she has someone else do it for her and they take pictures upon request by her. Doing what is "normal" or "routine" for these people, she has this person take photographs of her with these people, doing everything she can to blend in with them. Many of the photographs are shot in an "amateur" form so as to seem normal, something that a person would see in their everyday life, something that
maybe you or I would be able to relate to in some way.

The Hip Hop Project

As I've noticed in many of these photos, although you can pick out where she is in the photos, she blends in well with each ethnic group or subculture she is in. Whether she uses make-up a certain way or dresses a different way or acts a different way it shows her dedication to seriously entrenching herself in the lifestyle of whatever group of people she happens to be around. Reading about her I thought she was a great example of an Identity artist, someone who makes you question whether or not you are who you from the group of people you are with. Is it that, or is it how you define yourself through that group of people? Do you blend in with the rest of them, or try to stand out in your own way? In Nikki's case, through the use of her photography she uses blending in as a way of standing out, by exploring all these cultures and immersing herself in them it brings about a new level of understanding to her that most people on this Earth don't have about other people. She understands their likes, dislikes, as well as why they may discriminate towards another group of people, and then as well as that group of peoples point of view. It really makes you think. She also came out with something called Parts, snapshots of her with a man, however the man is cut out for the most part.

While some seem pretty normal and out of the ordinary, others kind of make you do a double take and think to yourself, "whats going on here?" Either way, Nikki S. Lee is a very unique artist, using culture as her driving force in her art. Whether she's a lesbian, a hispanic, a skateboarder, a redneck, whatever, she completely commits to it for a period of time and it brings about a form of education that only she can truly understand, and that people can discuss about through her photos.