Collection: Tommy Lei

My name is Tommy Lei. I am a lens-based artist and fine art photographer. I’ve been an exhibiting and published fine modern art photographer over the last few years. I have a deep affinity for finding beauty and belonging, which is why I find photography to be so enticing. Growing up in Hong Kong and, later, as an immigrant adolescent in America, I was continually exposed to the rawness of life. I find solace by quietly observing and taking in the world that surrounds me.  This desire to find beauty in the darkest to the most mundane of moments led to a lifelong passion that became my full-time passion.

Those life moments have continued to influence my approach and philosophy toward photography. I capture life, as is. Completely non-manipulated. It is a constant practice of staying in the present moment, to elevate the everyday with each image, whether it’s what I see on the streets or in our natural landscapes. There is no pretending nor fantasy. This prevailing theme is present in these three framed digital photographs, printed on the finest archival Canson papers. I am often drawn to vignettes and scenes that embody some element of insecurity, isolation, and vulnerability but with an underlying glimmer of hope that verges on a burgeoning rebirth. When these images materialize into a tangible print, I feel the impact of the stories and emotions that it imparts.

Ultimately, I aspire to create a sense of calm, harmony, and balance in my photographic compositions. I equate my photography to a meditation exercise within a given frame. Fluid, much like the passage of time — an important reminder to live life in the present moment.