"Silas Ming Lee aka #DADDY_LEE, was born in Japan in 1947 to a Chinese-American father and Chinese mother, moving to San Francisco when he was four years old and eventually driving a taxi cab for the last 45 years.
But his life is not limited to that lifelong career.
According to photographer and son Sean Marc Lee, Silas is a licensed pilot, is trained in kung fu and lion dancing, was once a proud Harley-owner and a longtime fashionista.
With an intimacy and playfulness that reflects his father’s perceptible humor, fighting spirit and defiance against the stoic stereotype of Asian fathers, Sean’s photographs his series Daddy Lee draw a portrait of a life lived wholeheartedly."
Words by Far-Near.media
Photo by Sean Marc Lee
Portra 400
Photo by Sean Marc Lee
Portra 160
I’ve been photographing my father in a long going series for the last 15+ years. I always knew he was different from most of the Asian fathers I knew growing up through
friends and media.
His unique childhood helped shaped his very American approach to life, but his immersion in San Francisco’s Chinatown, kept him rooted in Chinese culture.
This blend of American and Chinese is an experience many of his relatives in Japan do not understand.
Myself growing up as a Chinese-American, navigating the American experience was also unique as the issue of identity was always on the forefront.
Now as a photographer based in Taipei and working mostly around Asia, trying to explain the American experience is also something hard to describe to Taiwanese friends.
My aim is to show a whimsical selection of photographs of a man who experiences life like a child. His affection for movies and pop culture spilled over and inspired me to study film and get into photography.
Inspired by cinema and a child-like sense of humor, I hope to convey the story of a unique man navigating the world
from two cultures.