Paul Yee, "PS 34 Celebrates the 1952 Helsinki Olympics", 2023.
Color instant photographs mounted on Canvas.
12" x 12"
Framed dimensions: 12.8" x 12.8"
ed. 1/2
Description:
In the summer of 1952, PS 34 celebrated the Olympic Games by mounting the iconic Olympic rings high up on one of the towering brick walls in the playground.
It's not known if the intention was to leave them, but the rings were not removed, and over the course of several decades, four of them have dislodged
and fallen to the ground. One single yellow ring remains as a tribute to the Games of the XV Olympiad, and to this day, the students at PS34 run the track and pretend
to be Horace Aschenfelter winning gold in the 3000 meter steeplechase or Daphne Hasenjager winning silver for the 100 meter dash, et al.
The photo series captures 4 unique vantage points of the PS34 playground on a format that is irreproducible. The one-of-a-kind photos are mounted on green painted
canvas.
About the Artist:
Paul Yee is a cinematographer based in New York City. He recently completed Tina Satter's Reality (Berlinale 2023, HBO) and Adele Lim's Joy Ride for Lionsgate and Point Grey. Previously, he lensed The Fits (Venice 2015, Sundance 2016), Anna Rose Holmer's debut feature, that the New York Times described as "a dreamy, beautifully syncopated coming-of-age tale" and Colewell, directed by Tom Quinn, that premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2019 and went on to receive two Independent Spirit Award Nominations.
His penchant for vérité camerawork and natural light has led him to collaborate on many documentaries- including Season 2 of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas (HBO), Cameron Yates' Chef Flynn (Sundance, Berlin 2018) and Emily Sheskin's Jesszilla (Big Sky 2023), a project that spanned 5 years of the life of boxing phenom Jesselyn Silva.
Paul is passionate about working with a diverse range of filmmakers and telling new and unique stories. He is also an avid cook and photographer.
