Leeworkstudio

After alot of hard work and perseverance, Leeworkstudio.com, a website showcasing my best and latest photography has been launched. Please do visit the site and check it out.

Gold Rush Hotel, a Print Oculus Mobile Device Photography winner!

I am pleased to share that my photo "Gold Rush Hotel" has been selected as a winner in a mobile device photography competition held by Oculus Arts. The photo will be published in their upcoming book titled "Print Oculus: Mobile Device Photography". As well, to coincide with the 2013 CONTACT Photography festival in Toronto, "Gold Rush Hotel" is currently being exhibited, along with 11 other juried photos, at the QSQ Giclee Boutique and Gallery during the month of May.

Here is a sneak preview of the book. 

 Some upcoming events which I will be participating in:

Exhibition "Re-opening" and Book Launch
Thursday May 23
QSQ Gallery, 845 College St. Toronto 
6-9pm

Artist Talk
Saturday May 25
QSQ Gallery, 845 College St. Toronto 
1pm (to be confirmed)

Books ($25cdn) and signed prints are currently on sale at QSQ.

Rest in Peace

Last week, I found out that a colleague from my film industry days took his life. Although I haven't seen him for several years, the hours we did spend working together, through the thick and thin of film production, were enough to leave me saddened to hear this incomprehensible news. 

No doubt the last few days have been full of reflection and questioning of life, it's value and what it takes from us. As human beings, the depth and make-up of our emotions are not apparent. Where there is light, there are also shadows that form and stay. As easily as the layers of joy be perceived, so can those that ache, be hidden. 

My friend, rest in peace. I hope what was tumultuous and painful for you is now clear and calm.

Mama

My grandmother Chan King Yue, one of 26 children, or "Mama" as she was known to me. 

May she rest in peace.

Intersection

Ferris wheel in Copenhagen's city centre

Conceived by George Ferris, the Ferris Wheel was introduced to the world at the World's Colombian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. It was built to rival the Paris creation of the Eiffel Tower.

Since then, the Ferris wheel has always been a symbol of fun. That which was initially an American expression of freedom, is now spread throughout the world.

For children it is a popular carnival ride, not too fast as some other rides are, nor too slow. They climb into the individual cars without a second thought and smile in delight when the wheel starts to turn. Soaring up higher and higher, they reach the very top where it is possible to see far and yonder. Over city skylines and rural landscapes, their imaginations run free without limits.

As young adults we continue to strive for experiences beyond practicalities. We choose to cross oceans by ship, fly through time zones by plane, or cover vast ground distance by train, bus and car, leaving nothing but a trail of light behind.

The endless travels fair well, as maturity and insight into life is gained. However just like the how ferris wheel is a circle, so is the journey and at some point, the vehicle we were on speeds back to the starting point. Before we know where we are, it intersects the wheel and we are ejected out into the big circular disc once again. Except unlike when we were children, this time the wheel spins non-stop faster than before, we have to squint harder to see the horizon, and we are more fearful to jump off.

Heartbreak

How long was this branch broken before the new baby growth spurted out?

Sixteenth Floor

After three months living on the sixteenth floor on top of a shopping mall surrounded by tall buildings, a dirty river, highways and railroad tracks,there is strangely something I miss about it all.

Impermanence: such has been the state of kleejourneys for the last few years. Alongside came excitement, adventure, tears and pain.

It is now time to pack it all up into a box (maximum allowable weight is 32 kg), label it as "experience", take it down to ground level and relocate to a more permanent location.

How's life?

It's been that kind of weekend.

Red Stripe

Red Stripe (150cm x 100cm), photo by Katrina Lee

In conjunction with Poetisk Fusion, an outdoor film, lighting and sound installation at Bornholms Kunst Museum , kleejourneys has the pleasure to present 'Red Stripe', the first of several photos to be displayed at the museum from Oct 13 2009 until January 2010.

Click here to learn more about the project, including a web gallery of more images by project photographers Katrina Lee and Ole Christiansen.

Note: There are 5 copies of Red Stripe(150cm x 100cm) available for purchase. For pricing details, please contact katrina@leeworkstudio.com

Poetisk Fusion

Press article for Poetisk Fusion, Bornholms Tidende Monday 21 September

Photo by Katrina Lee
(click on the image for a larger readable version)

Poetisk Fusion is an outdoor film, lighting and sound installation at Bornholms Kunst Museum, running from October 9 until 18, 19:00 to 21:00. The project is created by Palle Vedel (Manden med Cameraet/Metropolights) in collaboration with artist Daniel Vestergaard, composer Christian Rønn, and photographers Katrina Lee and Ole Christiansen.

Through specially composed lighting and sound, and the manipulation of Dziga Vertovs legendary film Man with a Movie Camera, the installation aims to challenge the museum's architecture, and in the process, connect the lines that set the agenda for Futurism and Constructivism from Western Art History to the Early 20th century.

Poetic Fusion also uses different forms of communication such as the newly developed 3D virtual gallery which will give museum visitors a look into today's most advanced 3D technology. During the projects' 3 phases, individual still images taken by Katrina Lee and Ole Christiansen will be presented in this virtual gallery, as well as hung in the museum for re-interpretation.

Roskilde Finale

Feeling Safe within Humanity

Photo source: Infinite Butterflies

Underlying the spirit
of
festival camaraderie,
colours and fun,

surfaces
the
unexpected,

black and white

If I had
turned around,
would you still have
pulled the trigger and shot me down?

Sommerferie 2009

July and August are the months when many Danes take time off from work for ''sommerferier'' or summer holidays. So after a reminder from a friend, that I too have been working hard all year establishing myself in Copenhagen, I realized that I also deserved a break.

So on June 28, my ''sommerferie'' began at Roskilde Music Festival.

West camping grounds at Roskilde Festival

My blue tent

9 days later, sunburnt, exhausted and deafened from camping, 17 concerts, and 67,412 other festival goers, there came an offer to decompress on the Baltic Sea. It was the best kind of music to my ears.

I gladly accepted and was soon on the overnight ferry from Køge to the island of Bornholm, and what I initially thought would be a short 4 day trip became the most important days of my summer filled with the five fundamental 'R's of life: rest, relaxation, relation, rejuvenation and re-inspiration. While on Bornholm, time stood still, but while sitting on the bus 10 days later journeying back across Sweden, I knew it had passed too quickly.

Crossing the Öresund Bridge from Sweden to Denmark

With commitments successfully accomplished after 2 days back in Copenhagen, I had no need nor desire to stay put in the big city. Thus when I was asked to join a semi-work weekend in Aalborg, a part of Denmark I had not yet visited, I did not hesitate to accept despite the city's poor reputation.

View of Aalborg from Hotel Hvide Hus

How could I say no to the job or rather, the opportunity to photograph the Aalborg Museum of Modern Art, knowing the images will be used as creative inspiration for an upcoming film and lighting project. This was yet again a perfect way to continue the summer holiday.

Aalborg Museum of Modern Art

Finally, having managed travel all month by ferries, trains and buses, there had to unfortunately be a carbon emitting flight to Scandinavia's volcanic country on the North Atlantic Ocean. After all, what is a ''sommerferie'' without a journey to the glaciers of Iceland?

Next time however, I will take the ferry...

Other life priorities have had to be put forward and Kleejourneys apologizes to her readers for the lack of blog postings recently. However, if you can be patient, an extremely large stock of new ''sommerferie''photos will be shared in the upcoming weeks. So please stay tuned...

Help I am alive

"Help, I'm Alive" Interview, Emily Haines

Sometimes when you feel you are dying, you are actually just scared and more alive than ever

Self Portrait V - Intersection

March 26 today, exactly one year since I boarded a KLM flight in Toronto headed for new adventures in Europe. At that time, there was only one runway to choose from for takeoff, with all lines of perspective converging at one point far in the distance.

Today, after one year following arrows and climbing slowly up a ramp, there is bend and the lines no longer converge but instead, intersect in every direction.

Although no longer running a marathon, I have hit a midway marker but cannot see where there is a finishing line.

Jante's Law

After 7 months in Copenhagen trying to understand the complexity of living in Denmark, it is time to bring up Jante's law, an unspoken code of ethics in Scandinavian-American culture. This law was created by Norwegian/Danish author Aksel Sandemose in 1933 when he wrote "En flygtning krysser sitt spor", a novel about Jante, a fictitious little village in Denmark where people live by 10 commandments to preserve social stability and uniformity.

Here are the ten rules to the law:

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.

To summarize, the Law of Jante was the very core of the speech of the people and the result of breaking this social code meant that your neighbors would despise you for your individuality, uniqueness, or an excess show of wealth. Furthermore, according to this website,

"Equality is an important part of Danish culture, so much so that, ‘success’ or what may be seen as a deliberate attempt to distinguish oneself from others may be viewed with hostility. This characteristic is called Janteloven or Jante’s Law by Danes.

Relocating alone to a country with a new culture and language, one experiences looking in the mirror daily, questioning values, prejudices and self definition. With Jante's 10 commandments,living in Denmark comes with a whole set of additional challenges.

Balance and Stability

If only muscles, bones and tendons could be stacked like concrete blocks to not fall down.

Sadly, after 5 weeks of running and achieving 10.5 km in one hour last Sunday, I must report a setback. The muscles in my left leg are not able to withstand the training regime thus weakening my physical balance and stability. Some careful reconsideration is now necessary with regards my participation in the half marathon.

Leephotostudio

The time has come to launch a website just for my photography in hopes that a professional career may unravel and spiral to the top. Thank you to all who have been dedicated readers of kleejourneys. I hope that you will also visit leephotostudio as often and invite many of your friends as well.

visit

Katrina Lee Photography

www.leephotostudio.blogspot.com

Celebration

The Other Side

There is this place sometimes
in your most unconscious dreams
Where the mind has no boundaries
nor your body, or so it seems

There, you float down a path
where the trees lead the way
Their arms pulling you forward
down here, as if to say

Maybe you soar up in the air
towards the unknown plight
Fighting every twist and turn
Through cloud patterns in sight

Then silently down you come
landing on the grass below
There is a light on the other side
So through the tunnel you must go

But don't worry, for you should know
Your footprint can always be seen
That many love you just so, and
walk with you within your dream

Today is one of those days when I wish I could be in Toronto, to join my film comrades at a memorial celebrating the life of Chris Howard. So instead, here is something from Denmark, inspired by the unbelievable amount of love and support that has poured out from the film industry and more since his passing.

Goodbye Nørrebro

Since arriving in Denmark, kleejourneys has happily based within you, my haven of an apartment in Nørrebro. Nørrebro is an area of Copenhagen often described as being: an extremely dangerous neighbourhood by locals from Jutland, Western Denmark; in a part of the city where as many as 17 drug related shootings were reported in one month last fall; 2 minutes from Jagtvej 69, the riot site of the Ungdomshuset or Peoples House 2 years ago; and just a few blocks from Jægersbrogade, the street where one can find substances that fulfill one's addictive needs.

However, having never felt in danger at anytime day or night in this neighbourhood, this retrospective focuses on the positive aspects that made you such a special place to retreat to and me, nostalgic about relocating kleejourneys west to Østerbro.

The street Jægersbrogade was certainly where I could feed my addictions, but with produce from the best organic suppliers such as the Coffee Collective. There, locals met daily at 7am before work and me, on Sunday afternoons for the takeout latte I needed to keep warm while on my quiet walk around the block. Next door was Kates, the bakery with the best homemade chocolate croissants in the city, many which I enjoyed during mornings on the balcony. And finally, gofood for quality meals at VERY reasonable prices when I just didn't want to cook.

The Assistens Kirkegård or cemetery was once described to me as a Garden of Eden, a place one could cycle through before hitting the chaos of traffic on Nørrebrogade, or where one could be seen relaxing and daydreaming in a hammock, while pretending to work. How nice that the Kirkegård was conveniently across the street, and where I found solace amongst beautiful trees, experienced a stunning sunlit day for photography, and played in snow and leaves at 3am with recklessness and innocent bliss.

(see more cemetery images here,here,here and here)

Basing kleejourneys within your friendly and safe spot in Nørrebro, I was able to be part of 'Human' Copenhagen where at least 50% of the inhabitants are immigrants and where many shops are owned by Middle Easterners or South Asians. Having lived in Canada, a country whose people are primarily made up of immigrants and being one myself, I had a true appreciation of the cultural diversity around me. And as a non-dane banana (as my grandfather used to call me) with Chinese Malaysian yellow skin on the outside but Canadian white on the inside, the immigrant population never hesitated to speak to me, offering jobs, friendships, cheap bicycle repairs, but most interesting, their political, social and cultural views about life in Denmark.

Six months in your neighbourhood also resulted in many good social memories. Not only were they full of colourful cultural experiences, the extensive night scene in your immediate surroundings always ensured for a fun and hyggeligt (cozy) night out with friends. Perhaps it was the first summer picnic in Nørrebroparken followed by beers and pool at Stefanshus that I remember best. Or maybe it was the mojitos at Apparatet or Oak room. Actually there was also the excellent dinner at Wascator, julefrokost at Ryesgade 19A, as well as my first danish conversation at the Copenhagen Green Drinks gathering at Ølbaren. I have not forgotten the live music concert at Rust Natklub, nor the strange people at Louises. Then there was Props, the unnamed cafe on Blågårdsagade where I tasted my first elderflower drink. Nevertheless, the night often ended at Saxons where one had to be careful not to poke someone in the eye or at the Rock Bar (some call it Gauss), where young danish boys were very friendly until they dared to ask my age. The best part was not so much the bars and clubs but instead, that I could easily get a tasty late night sharwarma, and that the journey back to you wobbling on my bicycle was not a long one. I always refused to live up to my "no balance" nickname and managed to get home safe and sound.

Putting organic side streets, cemeteries, ethnic diversity or night life aside, I think I just became accustomed to the sight of the ugly Fiat car dealership across the road or the car tires laying out in the sun down below. As for the shootings, I learned to deal with these tumultuous events with precautions. During my first oral danish exam learning to talk about my neighbourhood, I recounted to my teacher, 'Alt jeg har brug for er min skudsikkervest' or 'All I need is my bulletproof vest'.

So, dear fourth floor Nørrebro sanctuary, there you have it, a retrospective and only a few paragraphs and photos to describe why I already miss you so. Thank you for enclosing your walls around me on those rainy days and for opening the windows to let the sunrise in during the dark November winter mornings.

Hide and seek

you can run

but

you can't hide