Ju Shen Lee takes photographs that comprehensively capture the vigour and vitality of daily life in exotic locations. She weaves these photographs into beautiful tapestries that combine creative composition, compelling content, and cultural context. Her international life experiences, earth sciences studies, and global environmental and sustainability management career give Ju Shen an empathetic eye for the synergy and symbiosis of nature, life, culture, and religion. Inspired by the ageless classical approach to storytelling, her photography is clearly focused on opening hearts and minds. Thus, she instinctively captures and intimately communicates the true, pure substance of real life. Framed by her empathetic eye and clear focus, Ju Shen’s photography is more than a visual bridge between the subject and viewer. It is also a cultural bridge to different worlds. By going beyond and behind the visual feast of exotic locations and their enigmatic people, her photographs immerse the other senses in the underlying sounds, aromas, flavours, and textures. She weaves these photographs into tapestries that holistically chronicle the daily lives of her subjects. Her photography is also a historical bridge for future generations to savour and study the past real life at these locations before the inevitable and irreversible changes due to technology and time. Hence, her photography connects different people in different worlds across different times. In recent years, Ju Shen has undertaken photo-expeditions to Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Preparations for these month-long expeditions include diligent detailed research on all aspects of the geography, nature, and architecture at these locations, and the history, culture, and religion of the people there. In the process, she carefully cultivates relationships with local subject-matter experts. Her research and relationships, combined with patience and perseverance, enable her to uniquely photograph both the readily seen and rarely seen daily lives of the people there. Ju Shen has won several international competitions, most notably: the prestigious 2016 Asia-Europe Foundation Prize with a photograph taken in Thimphu (Bhutan), and the acclaimed 2020 Beau Monde Traveler Magazine Grand Prize with a photograph taken on Inle Lake (Myanmar). She has also had her photographs featured in the world-renowned photographer Michael Freeman’s book: Get The Photos Others Can’t, published in 2020. Motivated by these wins, Ju Shen decided to weave photo-tapestries to share with the present generation and preserve for future generations. She published two books on Luang Prabang (Laos): Life & Prayer in 2018 and The Monks in 2019, and her first book on Inle Lake (Myanmar): Ingenious Lives in 2020.
Straits Times Singapore - Capturing snapshots of life from Asian and European perspectives
Asia Jury Prize Winner of the ASEF Photo Competition “On the Go"
Beau Monde Traveler Magazine Grand Prize
Earth Photo Exhibition (Royal Geographical Society London, UK) - Shortlisted
Books
- Luang Prabang - Life & Prayer