From photographer to founder.
Jack Lee. Born in Seoul, South Korea.
Starting and growing companies in London since 2020.
I moved to London in 2012 with a camera and one goal: to become a world-class photographer.
I studied fashion photography at London College of Fashion, and in 2014, still a student, I founded A2Z Fashion Magazine. It went on sale in 10 countries, and it still runs today as a digital magazine.
In 2017 I held my first solo exhibition, Plato's Cave, in Seoul. It marked the start of my work as an artist, and I have kept exhibiting my personal work ever since.
In 2018, eight years after I first picked up a camera, I shot the campaign I had dreamed of: Hermès. Since then I have shot campaigns for global brands including Samsung, LG, ASICS, Puma and Reebok.
In 2020 I started PLAB Studio, a production company, and in 2021 the wine brand sofarsogood. In 2023 I opened CHEEEZ, London’s first Korean-style self-photo studio, built so that anyone can enjoy having their picture taken.
CHEEEZ now has four stores in London. It has welcomed 646,925 visitors, holds a 5.0 Google rating across 4,915 reviews, and is growing into one of London's most talked-about brands.
As a photographer, I still shoot commercial work and exhibit my own. As a founder, I'm working to take CHEEEZ beyond the US and out to the world.
Exhibitions
- 2026Re-Place KOPPEL Collective, London, UK
- 20224482 [Ten] Hope Gallery Oxo, London, UK
- 20194482 The Other Side of the Moon Bargehouse, London, UK
- 20184482 Butterfly Effect Bargehouse, London, UK
- 2017Plato's Cave — Solo Exhibition ADM Gallery, Seoul, Korea
- 2015Kanaval Camden Image Gallery, London, UK
LCFBA15 Press Exhibition 3/10 Shoreditch High Street, London, UK - 2014ArtCube Black & White Atlantis, London, UK
4482 Symposium Bargehouse, London, UK - 2013Saatchi Gallery London, UK
RAW Natural Born Artist Showcase & Exhibition London, UK
From the ground,one by one
Born
Born in Seoul to a businessman father and a soprano mother — the eldest son of an eldest son. Responsibility came early, and so did the idea that work could be both a business and an art.
Moves to London
Arrives in London alone — little English, no one he knows — with a camera and one goal: to become a world-class photographer.
Founds A2Z Fashion Magazine
Launches a fashion magazine with friends while still at university. It goes on sale in 20 cities across 10 countries.
Graduates
Starts BA Fashion Photography at the bottom of his class. The language and the culture are both new, and he works his way through them. He graduates as one of the top students of his year, with his work selected for the LCFBA15 graduate show.
Plato's Cave — solo exhibition
After a string of group shows in London, including at the Saatchi Gallery, he brings his first solo exhibition, Plato's Cave, home to ADM Gallery in Seoul.
Hermès campaign
The goal he carried to London in 2012 becomes real: a campaign for Hermès, eight years after he first picked up a camera.
Samsung campaign
Samsung follows, then LG, ASICS, Puma and Reebok: campaigns for global brands, shot from London.
Founds PLAB Studio
Starts PLAB Studio, a production company, and goes on to produce projects with Son Heung-min, BLACKPINK and many other names, and campaigns for global brands including Frieze and Jo Malone London.
Launches sofarsogood
To celebrate his marriage, he ticks off a bucket-list item: a wine of his own. Made with a winery in the Languedoc, France, in a limited run of 700 bottles.
Opens the first CHEEEZ
To make photography part of everyday life, he launches CHEEEZ, London’s first Korean-style self-photo studio, on Tottenham Court Road in central London. Now four sites, 646,925 visitors and a 5.0 Google rating across 4,915 reviews.
Relaunches Scale Up
After a two-year break, Scale Up returns: a podcast and YouTube channel on Asian founders building companies in the UK.