Nikki S. Lee

A sort of offensive (in a good way), social-butterfly-ish, Where's Waldo.
I tried to accurately label the Project from which each photo below stems.

(from the Yuppie project)


(from the Tourism project)

(from the Hip Hop project)

(from the Young Japanese [East Village] project)

After observing particular subcultures and ethnic groups, Nikki S. Lee adopts their general style and attitude through dress, gesture, and posture, and then approaches the group in her new guise. She introduces herself as an artist (though not everyone believes her or takes it seriously), and then spends several weeks participating in the group’s routine activities and social events while a friend or member of the group photographs her with an ordinary automatic “snapshot” camera. Lee maintains control of the final image, however, insofar as she chooses when to ask for a picture and edits what photographs will eventually be displayed.

From schoolgirl to senior citizen, punk to yuppie, rural white American to urban Hispanic, Lee’s personas traverse age, lifestyle, and culture. Part sociologist and part performance artist, Lee infiltrates these groups so convincingly that in individual photographs it is difficult to distinguish her from the crowd. However, when photographs from the projects are grouped together, it is Lee’s own Korean ethnicity, drawn like a thread through each scenario, which reveals her subtle ruse.

(Text Above Via)

(from the Hispanic project)

(from the Schoolgirls project)

(from the Ohio project)

(from the Elderly project)


(from the Tourism project)

(from the Lesbian project)

(from the Exotic Dancer project)

(from the Hispanic project)

(from the Hip Hop project)