Steven Lee

Photographer, Educator, Program Director / Based in London

    Steven V-L Lee  is a Malaysian freelance photographer based in London, UK. He began his photographic career as a documentary and travel photographer in the late 90's when began writing travel related articles for magazines and... read on
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  Steven V-L Lee is a Malaysian freelance photographer based in London, UK. He began his photographic career as a documentary and travel photographer in the late 90's when began writing travel related articles for magazines and journals. In 2000, he published his first coffee-table book titled Outside Looking In : Kuala Lumpur, which received the Asian Prize at PhotoCity Sagamihara Festival of the Image, Japan in 2007.

Part of the collection is held with the City of Sagamihara National Photographic Archives. His commercial portraiture and fashion work has graced the covers of License! Europe, Country Club UK and Masterpiece and Asiana magazines.


In 2002, he was approached by AntiSlavery International UK to photograph specially prepared Indian recipes by Chattar Singh of Rajasthan for a fund raiser book titled A Taste for Freedom.

In 2007 he published his second coffee-table book MALAYSIANS. In 2008, MUSEO, comprising a collection of black & white abstract studies of antiquities, statuary and architecture photographed in Europe from 2001 - 2005 is now available as a print-on-demand publication. LUMINA is his current book released in 2011.

In 2008, Steven was involved in portfolio reviews at Cultivate, a Rhubarb-Rhubarb initiative for graduates in Photography, to prepare and guide them in portfolio preparation and exhibitions. He has also introduced the basics of photography to inner-city kids in Borough of Camden in a Local Authority regeneration initiative and recently began slphotoworks, a workshop-based initiative. Steven is also the co-founder of Lightgallery gallery in the UK.


From 2003 to 2011, Steven and his colleague Luz Osorio, managed Light Contemporary gallery in London, specialising in contemporary photography and art from Latin America, and held numerous exhibition in London, Miami and Madrid exhibiting artists such as Luis Gonzalez, Monica Van Asperen, Cesar Martinez, and Cecilia Paredes.Â


In 2009, Steven initiated the KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL PHOTOAWARDS, an annual international portrait photography competition centred in Malaysia, focussing on the best in contemporary portrait photography and has attracted the participation of some top international photographers. Steven continues to run photography educational workshops through EXPOSURE+ Photo Mentoring platform in Kuala Lumpur with other photographers, and has been a portfolio reviewer at the Mt Rokko International Photography Festival in Kobe, Japan from 2013 to 2015.


Focussing on personal work, Steven has over the last 5 years been developing several projects and narratives founded through personal travel and thoughts about the wider effects of photography and re-discovery, beginning with MUSEO and then LUMINA.