Artist Biography
In 2013, Chinese photographer, Tin Man Lee, was awarded the Grand Prize of Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Competition, out of 25,000 entries from 50 countries. His image “Pouncing Bear” was exhibited in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., USA from Nov 2014 to April 2015 and will be displayed again from Oct 2015 at a special exhibition. The photo was also displayed as a 30-foot banner at the entrance of the Museum and chosen as the cover of the 2015 edition of the Smithsonian Exhibitions Calendar. He has won the Top 10 Award from the North America Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and his photo “Fish and Bear Claw” was chosen as the cover for the annual NANPA contest magazine, Expressions, among his many awards and publications in magazines and newspapers. He is a frequently invited speaker and judge for photography societies and events internationally.
From a young age, he explored the mountains of Hong Kong through hiking trips with his parents. He developed a deep love of animals, and painted animals he saw on the Discovery Channels and during his visits to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.
After completing Form 6 at Queen’s College, Hong Kong, Tin Man received a Sammy Lee Foundation full scholarship to study at the University of California at Los Angeles, which began his journey to the USA, where he has lived for last two decades.
With his deep love for and curiosity about wildlife and his science training as a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in imaging and image processing, he combines the technological aspects of his work with creativity to capture images that are both artistic and have never been seen before. For example, he explores high speed and low light digital photography with state-of-the-art denoising algorithms to catch unrepeatable and mysterious moments of nature, especially capturing animals’ interactions that show their loving side.
After rediscovering his love of wildlife through photography six years ago, Tin Man finds incredible joy exploring the wilderness photographically, especially the remote parts of Alaska.
Currently, he resides in Thousand Oaks, California, and works at a biotech company, managing a medical imaging data center.
More about Tin Man Lee:
Homepage: http://tinmanlee.com/
Blog: http://tinmanphotoblog.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinmanphotography
E-mail: tinmanlee@gmail.com