Daesung Lee

Biography of Daesung Lee

Daesung Lee (born in 1975, South Korea) is an internationally acclaimed photographer known for his visual explorations of climate change, environmental transformation, and the impact of human activity on fragile communities. He graduated in Fine Arts with a specialization in photography from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, one of Korea’s leading institutions for photographic studies.

From Documentary Photography to Constructed Image

After completing his studies, Lee traveled extensively around the world, experiences that profoundly shaped his artistic perspective. Beginning in 2007, he devoted himself to documentary photography, focusing on the evolving relationship between people and their environmeIn 2010, he shifted away from traditional documentary work and embraced staged and conceptual photography. This transition allowed him to create powerful visual metaphors depicting the visible and invisible effects of climate change on contemporary societies.

Award-Winning Series and International Recognition

Daesung Lee’s two major series, “On the Shore of a Vanishing Island” and “Archaeology of the Future,” have earned widespread international acclaim. These works received several prestigious awards, including: Voies Off Prize, LensCulture Prize, Sony World Photography Awards & Dahinden Prize.

His photographs have been showcased in numerous international festivals and exhibitions, such as Photoquai at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and the La Gacilly Photo Festival in France. They have also been featured in major media outlets worldwide, strengthening his reputation as a leading voice in environmental photography.

Projects and Continued Artistic Innovation

In 2017, Lee created “The Red Forest,” a fictional documentary project addressing the long-term consequences of nuclear waste. The work was selected as a finalist for the Friends of the Albert-Kahn Museum Prize and exhibited at major festivals, including Bourg-en-Bresse in 2019 and Brest in 2020.

In 2022, Daesung Lee was selected for the Saint-Laurent Self 07 art project. For this commission, he developed a work reflecting on imaginary forms of escape during the COVID‑19 pandemic, later exhibited in Seoul.

In 2023, he won the 2023 Talent Grant with his series “Love your neighbors,” a poignant project on the Bosnian civil war. The work was subsequently exhibited at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF) in 2024, further affirming his growing influence on the international photography scene.

In 2026, his series « Nirvana » was exhibited at Hangar in the group show « Family Stories ».