ABOUT LEE

Lee Celano has been shooting major news events and documenting social change for two decades. With an eye for insightful and informative pictures, he has covered such topics as political upheaval in Haiti, Russia’s transition to capitalism, the Los Angeles riots and U.S. presidential campaigns. After being assigned to cover Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, Lee relocated to New Orleans to document the recovery in-depth. He shoots regularly for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Reuters, and his work appears on the web and in print publications worldwide.

As Lee photographs the lives of New Orleans and Gulf Coast residents transformed by devastating hurricanes, he is working with extraordinary passion and purposefulness. Covering the story from the beginning, his photos have put a human face on the frustratingly slow re-population and rebuilding process. Lee also continues to work on a personal book project portraying modern life in Cajun Louisiana. Over the past ten years, he has documented Cajun communities as their distinct culture and lifestyle fade away.

Lee’s approach is naturalistic, capturing moments that illustrate the drama, tragedy and beauty of people’s everyday struggles. Photographing people, he tries to put his subjects at ease and focus on what makes each of them unique.  To get better pictures, he will spend extended periods with people he is documenting, and schedule shoots at times with optimal lighting conditions. With a strong background in news, his photojournalistic style has been sought by corporate clients including Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, American Honda and Hard Rock International. Throughout his documentary, portrait and corporate work, he strives to make lasting images that communicate the essence of the person and situation.