Leah Dizon is an American born ( of Chinese/Filipino/French heritage ) fashion model that is now one of the hottest sensations in Tokyo, having appeared in numerous high profile commercials, cut several singles and an album, and released bestselling pictorials. Huge billboards featuring her endorsed products are plastered all over the city.

While Leah’s unique good looks probably played a part in garnering her ever-growing popularity, I wonder if the Japanese’s paradoxical love for all things American – like spending hours queuing up to get a taste of Krispy Kreme Donuts, has something to do with it too. For us Singaporeans I think, we just hate to wait.

Very recently Leah Dizon released a huge pictorial book titled “Heaven”, which I promptly purchased after spotting it in the local bookstore. Sure, Leah is pure candy for the eyes, but it was the pictorial’s photographer that actually caught my interest – Leslie Kee.

Leslie is a Tokyo based Singaporean photographer whose projects actively involve the who’s who of the Japanese entertainment scene – names like Hamasaki Ayumi, Koda Kumi, Amuro Namie, and many more. He studied photography at Tokyo School of Visual Arts, one of the schools I visited when I was considering my desired film school of choice 2 years ago. As I introduced myself as a Singaporean during the school tour his name was very promptly mentioned by the school guide, markedly with a hint of pride.

Here in Japan Singaporeans working in the creative industry come few and far between, so its both uplifting and encouraging to see a luminary like Leslie finding such great success. Certainly, we can expect many more exciting projects from him in the near future.

Leslie Kee’s website : http://www.lesliekeesuper.com/
Tokyo school of Visual Arts homepage : http://www.tva.ac.jp/ ( Japanese only )

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