Lee is a renowned architectural photographer WHO TOOK THIS 8X10 INCH PHOTO IN 1968 FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER. Leland documented the work of many great 20th century architects and designers. His images have appeared in numerous prestigious publications. Lee studied and worked for eight years with the icon of architectural photography, Julius Shulman, prior to venturing out on his own in 1961. In 1968, he was the first to photograph the famous Elrod House, designed by renowned architect John Lautner, overlooking Palm Springs. Lee called this shoot his single most rewarding experience as an architectural photographer. These photographs were rescued and printed from his fading Ektachrome transparencies and show the house exactly as interior designer Arthur Elrod envisioned, at the pinnacle of his career when it was first built, before his untimely death in 1974 at age 49. The Elrod House was immortalized in 1971 as the sophisticated modern location for the James Bond film, Diamonds are Forever, with Sean Connery. Lee was born Lay Quonn Yuen (“Deep Spring”), the youngest of a family of four children in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918. The city was still rebuilding from the great fire of 1906 from which his parents and older siblings had narrowly escaped. His earliest memories are of a home lit by gas lamps and getting around town by horse drawn carriage. His father was a Chinese immigrant and tailor, specializing in brightly colored silk shirts popular with young men who frequented the entertainment district known as the Barbary Coast, home to jazz clubs, dance halls, vaudeville theaters and brothels. Soon after the young Lee could talk, he was translating for his mother who spoke only Cantonese, despite having been a native-born lifelong resident of San Francisco. Lee, an architectural photographer who overcame racial barriers and helped create iconic images of the American twentieth century built environment, died on February 27, 2016 in Lynwood, California. For four decades, Lee photographed the works of some of the era’s most important architects such as John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, A. Quincy Jones, Edward Fickett, Albert Frey and Buff & Hensman for such leading publications as Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, House & Garden, Good Housekeeping, House & Home, and the LA Times’ influential Home Magazine, among others. Orphaned at eight, Lee was sent to a boys’ camp where an art project of his was published in the San Francisco Call-Bulletin newspaper with the racially insensitive caption “Wong Does It Right”. This proved to be a seminal event and launched a lifelong career in art and photography. The story in the Call-Bulletin caught the attention of a recruiter for the then-new Voorhis School for Boys, an experimental progressive school for underprivileged youth in San Dimas, California founded by Jerry Voorhis, scion of a wealthy political dynasty who would later serve in Congress. The ten year old Lee was given a scholarship and would become not only a protoge of Voorhis’, but a friend to the entire Voorhis family for the rest of his life. It was at the Voorhis school that Lee first studied photography and developed a love for the craft. The Voorhis school is now part of California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly Pomona). Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and after narrowly avoiding relocation to an internment camp for being mistaken as Japanese, Lee was drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1942 and spent the war years serving in Morocco, India, Nepal and China, achieving the rank of Master Sergeant. While in Shanghai, Lee connected with his father’s relatives who introduced him to the woman who would become his wife, Ye Lien, later Americanized to Gracelynn. They were married in Shanghai on June 1, 1946. After the war, Lee found work in portrait studios and freelancing for commercial assignments before returning to school on the GI Bill to study photography, earning a Bachelor’s degree from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. It was there that he attended a lecture given by the world-renowned architectural photographer Julius Shulman. Shortly after, Lee answered a blind ad in the newspaper for a photographer’s assistant which turned out to be for Shulman. Lee worked as Shulman’s assistant for nearly a decade from 1952 to 1961. The two worked together on many of Shulman’s most iconic photographs, often with Lee standing-in to provide scale. He is the man standing in a bathing suit by the pool in the 1954 photos of the Albert Frey House in Palm Springs. He is the man standing at the edge of a cliff under the cantilevered roof of the Stahl House in 1960, Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #22. And he is seen riding in the funicular of John Lautner’s Chemosphere House in Shulman’s famous 1961 photo. The formally-educated Lee had to be diplomatic when making suggestions to the self-taught Shulman and is responsible for introducing his boss to the use of infrared film which was famously used when photographing the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, Arizona in 1956, adding sharp contrasts, depth and drama to the images. At Julius Shulman’s memorial at the Getty Center in 2009, Shulman’s daughter, Judy McKee, credited Lee for his contributions to her father’s career. In 1961, Lee struck out on his own. He photographed a hillside house in Silverlake, California by architect Raul Garduno for the Los Angeles Times’ Home Magazine in 1962. For the next four decades, Lee photographed the homes of the rich and famous from Sonny & Cher, Kirk Douglas and Dinah Shore to Mary Tyler Moore, Ike & Tina Turner, and Ronald & Nancy Reagan. Lee’s most notable assignment came in 1968 when he photographed architect John Lautner’s then latest project, a house for interior designer Arthur Elrod in Palm Springs for House & Garden magazine. Lee was struck by the house’s monumentality with its spiraling circus tent-like concrete roof, indoor-outdoor infinity-edge swimming pool, and natural rock outcroppings that jutted up through the floors or formed walls throughout the interior of the house. Lee had to order out for more film and a boom crane to fully capture the house’s drama. Lee’s photographs led to the house’s use as the villain’s lair in the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever” where two bikini-clad bodyguards wrestle James Bond into the pool. Twin tragedies struck Lee at the turn of the millennium with the death of his beloved Lyn to breast cancer in 2001, followed by a house fire in 2002 caused by his freshly-serviced car smoldering in the garage, destroying most of his film archive. Lee retired but would remain active attending and participating in art events, lectures, museum and gallery openings including exhibitions of what survived of his own work. He traveled alone on a seven month around-the-world photo safari visiting remote areas of Africa, South America, and the Galapagos as well as the northern reaches of China. Lee would return to the Elrod House in 2012 at the age of 93 for special celebrations and exhibitions of his photographs as part of that year’s Palm Springs Modernism Show. He was interviewed for publications including Palm Springs Life, Modernism Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine as well as several coffee-table books by Taschen recollecting Lee’s and Shulman’s iconic photographs. Lee remained active and traveled frequently visiting family and friends until late 2015, attributing his longevity and youthful energy to surrounding himself with “young people”. Lee’s work continues to resurface, discovered in the vaults of defunct magazines, in the backrooms of long-closed galleries, or in the store-rooms of shuttered architectural offices. As with the work of his contemporaries Julius Shulman, Ezra Stoller, and Art Center classmate Pedro Guerrero, Lee’s work serves as a valuable record of a unique time in America’s built environment, when architects reinvented the profession and houses broke all the rules of convention. What survives or continues to turn up of Lee’s work will be archived at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Lee is survived by his sons Miles and Alexander of Los Angeles; grandsons Erick and wife Stacy of Stevenson Ranch, and Patrick and wife Kelli of San Antonio, Texas; niece Lyena Griffith and husband Jay of Arcadia, California; niece Jeanette (Lawrence) Wong of Chicago, Illinois; nephews Tony Tam of Pasadena and Will Leong of Sacramento and five great-grandchildren, Samantha, Evan, Ava, Katherine and Isabella, and grand-niece Asia. ART & DESIGN AROUND THE GLOBE. Revisiting Lautner’s Elrod House through. The Lens o/Leland Lee. By Tilll o thy Bras e t h. Ph o tograph y b y L e l and Lee. It was a balmy evening in Palm Springs, which pretty much describes any. Evening in the Southern California desert town. But that’s Just about all that. Was ordinary that February night in 2010. The well-dressed crowd gathering. At the Michael H. Lord Gallery was not there to see the latest work from the. Newest enfant terrible of the art scene. They came to honor a nonagenarian. Photographer and view his best-known works from over 40 years earlier: his. Remarkable photographs of John Lautner’s masterpiece, the Elrod House. And Lee’s public appearances still ignite a crowd, like his. Surprise visit to the house during a recent Modernism Week tour. Above Perched high above the desert. John Lautner’s space-age creation was. Perfectly cast as a James Bond hideaway. Thanks to Leland Lee’s striking 1968. The original curving column. In this photograph was replaced by the. Square column seen today to accommodate. A redesigned glass wall. Opposite Lautner’s original zig-zag. Mitered glass wall was blown out by the. Desert winds soon after Lee’s photo shoot. Replaced by a retractable curving glass wall. That brought half the pool indoors. The story of Lee’s life and career is a classic American one, with tt, e. Familiar themes of Ilardsllip overcome, pluckiness, being in the right. Place at tile right time and knowing wilen to make a move. Approached his 94ttl birtllday, Modernism sat down for a cllat with. Lee in the Elrod House. Lee: I was born in 1918, a terrible year you know. A worldwide influenza epidemic. It was a miracle that I survived, being born in San. Francisco to a glletto existence. But I wasn’t aware of it because. I had a very happy childhood. Lee’s parents were Chinese immigrants and his motller spoke no. His previously widowed father, 56 years old when Leland. Was born, was more like a doting grandfatller to I, is youngest and. Witt’ his father working long hours as a tailor, and I, is. Mother ill, Lee’s sisters, nine and fifteen years older, raised him. Until tlleir father passed away in 1927. Lee: Losing my father when I was not yet nine, I qualified as a. I was [sent] to a camp in Marin County. It was a country. Retreat sponsored by tile Call Bulletin newspaper in San Francisco. Was tile first time I ever had an opportunity to use modeling clay. Made a Doctor Dolittle animal, a pushmi-pullyu. So taken, she asked tile newspaper to send a photographer out. Photograpller took a picture. It was printed in tile Call Bulletin with. Tile caption “Wong does it right” – it didn’t even Ilave my name on it! Above Leland Lee, left, assisting Julius Shulman In the studio. Shortly after becoming his assistant in 1952. Work together for nearly a decade, launching Lee’s solo career. Top Rather than dynamiting the site to create a flat building. Pad, Lautner incorporated the natural rocky outcroppings into. The interior as supporting walls, as. In the lounge area of the master bedroom. Opposite Mirrored walls in the master bedroom reflect views. Of the surrounding mountains and desert scape from every. Angle, continuing the theme of bringing the outdoors in. On tile day the picture appeared in the paper, Lee’s sister happened. To be on a date with a young man who was on the lookout for. Prospective students for the new Voorhis School for Boys. Of California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, the school was. Founded in 1927 by Jerry Voorllis, scion of a prominent, progressive family, who would later serve in Congress. The young man was. Telling Lee’s Sister, Ivy, about the SCI100I. When he pulled the news. Clipping from his pocket. Lee: Ivy said That’s my brother! So wilen the opportunity. Came to attend school away from Ilome, I was off like a shot. Lee completed his studies at the Voorhis Sdlool, where he learned. The basics of photograpllY, then landed’ a job at a prestigious photo. Studio in San Francisco. In 1942, he was drafted into tile army, serving in Morocco, India and, finally, China, where a cousin in Shanghai. Introduced him to the woman who would become Ilis wife, Ye Lien. She later took the Western name Grace Lynn. Lee: I met her in 1946. I had a jeep. I learned to get around. I hadl a lot of free time. We’d have dinner. My time in the service was corning to a close. We were married June 1, 1946. And she passed away in 2000. PllOtographer for a few years, and in 1951, with the first of their. Two sons, they settled in California so that Lee could pursue his. Ambitions in fashion photography. Lee: I decided that I needed more polish and technical information, so I came back to California to attend tile Art Center. College of Design photography department [in Pasadena]. I attended a lecture about.. Pretty soon, my wife saw an advertisement in. The paper: architectural photographer wants an assistant: So. I called the number. So that’s how I got to be on Julius’s staff. Through Silulman, Lee met and mingled with the luminaries. Of arcllitecture and publishing, on whom he made a lasting. Lee: Of course, I was merely an assistant, but I was omnipresent. And I had learned to be conversant about architecture. Errands to run between Julius’s office and Arts & Architecture. MagaZine editor John Entenza’s office. It was a good rapport. I became not just an assistant, I became somebody who could. Relate to all these notables. It was a gOOd springboard. Lee, witll his formal tecilllical training ill photography, 11ad to hold. His tongue around the self-taught Shulman. Lee: You see, I had already learned pllotography per se and I. Had my own response to what I saw. And I respected Ilis stature and Ilis reputation and I tried to remain in the background. Because I knew my place. But if I thougllt of any innovation, I. Had to be very judicious and make it seem to be Ilis own idea. One of those innovations was the infrared film that Lee suggested. Silulman use wilen photographing tile Chapel of the Holy Cross. In Sedona, Arizona, in 1956, witll the resulting sharp contrast. Adding deptll and drama to the stunning images. Lee’s turning point came one evening at Silulman’s home. Studio in about 1961, wilen Ile had been working for Ilim for. More tllan eight years. Shulman Ilosted a reception for every. Available young architect in the area, and invited Will Mehlhorn. The architecture editor of House & Garden. It would be tllrough. Mehlhorn, some seven years later, Hlat Lee would land tile. Commission to photograph the Elrod House. Soon after tllat evening, Lee felt tile tug to venture out on his. With tile birth of a second son in 1960, he needed to earn. Earlier words of advice from a mentor at tile Art Center, fasllion. Photographer John Engstead, rang in Lee’s ears. Lee: He said to me, If you’re going to al1lount to any tiling. You’ve got to strike out, sink or swim, starve a little while. It was now or never. In 1961, he got Ilis big break. Lee: I had met Case Study House arcl1itect Jolln Rex years. I guess Ile watched my progress, being publislled In. Itlle Los Angeles Times Home Magazine and this and tllat and I. Was a known entity to Ilim. So he called me himself. You know, Leland, I’ve done a wonderful project. I think it’s. Left A discrete, vortexlike entry lures visitors. Breatlltaking sight of the. Roof of poured concrete. Opposite Arthur, I’m. Elrod had a cherrypicker delivered to the. Site from which Lee took. One of tile best residential tllings I;’ve ever done. It’s way up in. Every magaZine will want. But I want you to Ilave it. Lee’s photos of Jolln Rex’s Wyle House were published, but not. Lee: Tiley sent tllf’m to a French magazine. Back to me, they sent them to Architectural Digest and before I. Knew it, they published tllem! Witll SUCll a presHgious debut, Lee’s solo career took off, Witll. Frequent aSSignments for SUCll publications as House Beautiful. House & Garden, Architectural Digest and Home Magazine. Photographed everything from mobile Ilomes to tract houses to. Interior design to celebrity Ilomes including, later, tile house of. Ronald Reagan when Ile was preparing to run for president. Especially enjoyed his role as exclusive pllotographer for tile LA. Pililhannonic’s annual showcase house, Wllicll Ile first shot in. 1964 and continued pilotograplllllg for tile next 25 years. In 1968, Lee got the call from House & Garden’s Mellillorn, to. Photograph what would become his signature project, Lautner’s. Newly completed Arthur Elrod House in Palm Springs. Lee: He called me Ilimself, came out from New York, stayed at. Tile Beverly Hills Hotel Wednesday nigllt. Wei came out in. My station wagon, came up here, and I was overwhelmed! Was flabbergasted by tile scale. Because I had never seen any. Preliminary drawings, I had not been prepared for tile scope. Tile monumentality of this project. Really, it’s a one of a kind. Wanted to capture its quality, its architecture, its strength. Know, it’s not just a Ilouse, it’s a monument. Right away I said,’Arthur, I don’t have wings. If I were a hummingbird, I could get up in the air and take pictures: So witllin an. Hour, he hacl a cllerry picker Ilere. And, of course, tile glass was. Mitered, whicll was really the hallmark of this wall. Wind blew it out it’s a pity they didn’t replace the glass. Lee refers to the original zig-zag mitered-glass wall, prominent in his. Soon after the photo SllOOt, it was blown out in a windstorm. And replaced by tile curved, retractable wall of glass til at brought. Half Ule swimming pool indoors and remains one of the many strikIng features of the house today. Wilen published in House & Gan1en later that year, Lee’s photos. Caused a sensation, Soon after, the house was used in the 1971. James Bond thriller Diamonds Are Forever. Audiences the world over. Know the house as Willard Whyte’S desert retreat where he is held. Hostage under the watch of two bikini-clad bodyguards, who wrestle. Bond into the pool when he comes to Whyte’S rescue. Lee’s career flourished for the next three decades until another. Fateful moment in 2003 when his car, fresh from servicing, burst. Into flames, engulfing the garage and Lee’s entire archive. Few transparencies survived, including, fortunately, the photographs. Above Forty-four years after the photo shoot. That helped make it famous, the 93-year-old. 2012 Palm Springs Modernism week. Of the Elrod House from 1968. Then 85 years old, Lee accepted. The fire as a sign til at it was time to hang up his camera and retire. But retirement hardly meant putting Ilis feet up and relaxing; the. Energetic Lee is in constant motion attending cultural events almost. Daily, including frequent trips to Palm Springs wllere he is still feted. At gallery and museum events, lectures and interviews. Lee’s fUll collection of photographs of the Elrod House can be. Seen at the Michael H. Lord Gallery in Palm Springs. And there’s an. OngOing searcll for transparencies and prints of his lost works that. May be in the archives of the many magazines that published them. Anyone with knowledge of tllem is invited to contact tile gallery or. Timothy Bruseth is a Los Angeles-based real estate deveioper, specializing ill the restoration of historic and midcentury modern. Homes through his firms Willow Glen Partners and ArtCrajt Homes, He. Blogs about architecture at jetsetmodernist. Tumblr. Com.