# @nextshark on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C5ge4emsgzL
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/14475767-nextshark-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/ea121603f7.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-04-08T16:40:32.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NextShark (@nextshark) — https://gondola.cc/nextshark

## Caption

Corky Lee, while studying American history at Queens College in New York in the ’60s, was struck by a photograph taken in 1869 depicting the celebration of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in Utah. Despite learning that over 12,000 Chinese workers were involved in the project, he couldn’t find a single Chinese face in the photo. The omission immediately sparked his mission to help increase Asian American representation in mainstream media. ⁠
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Years later, after teaching himself photography, Lee went on to recreate the photograph in 2014 with descendants of the original Chinese railroad workers (Slide 5). He called the image a “photographic justice.”⁠
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Lee, who continued documenting life’s struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, had set out to create a self-published book in 2011. But on Jan. 27, 2021, he passed away at the age of 73 due to complications from coronavirus. He was never able to complete his book. ⁠
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After his passing, publishing company Penguin Random House and John J. Lee, Corky’s brother and the executor of his estate, made it their mission to honor his legacy by finishing his book, tapping visual artist and photographer Chee Wang Ng and Columbia University history professor and author Mae Ngai as editors. ⁠
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📸Learn more about Corky Lee and his book "Asian America" in the full article on our website in our linkinbio ⁠
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#news #corkylee #asianamerica #photographer #asianphotographer #photographicjustice #asianamericanphotographer

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## Tags

photographicjustice, asianphotographer, corkylee, photographer, news, asianamericanphotographer, asianamerica

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