Arrested

Arrested is the biography of idiosyncratic London-based photographer and film director Jim Lee. Born in 1945 to parents who were both MI5 operatives, Lee's life has followed anything but a conventional route. Dyslexia and an independent spirit saw Lee at the age of just seventeen emigrate to Australia where his passion for photography was kindled. Rescued from fighting in the Vietnam war by his parents' intervention (on the grounds of national security), Lee returned to the UK and began to establish a portfolio photographing bands such as the Kinks and the Who. As his reputation grew, Lee became in demand as a fashion photographer for magazines during the late sixties and seventies, notably working with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in London and New York on fashion and advertising shoots. He collaborated with some of the most influential fashion designers, including Ossie Clark, Yves St Laurent and Gianni Versace, and his work appeared in Elle, The Sunday Times Magazine, Harpers & Queen and The New York Times. Turning to film direction in the late seventies, he produced a repertoire of more than 400 distinctive advertising campaigns for big name brands including Levi's, Elizabeth Arden, BMW, Shell, Esso, British Airways and Black & Decker. He worked on numerous film productions, including directing the 1992 full-length feature film Losing Track, starring Alan Bates. Lee's earlier photographic work is displayed in art galleries around the world and is included in a permanent collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum. His gritty, photojournalistic style of the sixties became, during the seventies, what Lee describes as 'a romantic soft-focus frenzy'. Always drawn to the world of film making, Lee sees his photographs as 'still moments of movies', and they frequently display the hallmarks of empowering women. Firmly established as an art photographer, Lee still collaborates on a variety of advertising and fashion projects, including shoots for Bjoern Borg's fashion label, and has covered fashion shows for such greats as Alexander McQueen and Zandra Rhodes for The Independent. Arrested traces the development of Jim Lee's photographic and film career, including rarely seen images among the most iconic of his photographs.