Taggart Lee

Taggart Lee came to light, images, and cinematography early in his life as the son of a Pasadena portrait photographer and a lighting designer and inventor. He was editing and shooting on tools bought second hand at a neighborhood camera shop by age 11, and soon after high school trained as an assistant under cinematography greats Lazlo Kovacs ASC and Jeffrey Jur ASC. In college Lee shot photo essays of Northern Ireland in pursuit of earning two degrees in political science. After college he returned to shooting film, assisting on the east coast on such projects a The West Wing, Linc's, Thirteen Days and countless commercials. An opportunity arose to shoot and operate test shots on the film Kiss the Girls that cemented Lee's resolve to make the move to cinematographer. Soon after arriving back in Los Angeles, Lee established a reputation for a more lyrical style of shooting on small independent projects at a time when frenetic camera movement was the rage. In 2002 he formed One Ton Shadow Productions with Maurice Jordan, and in 2003 was asked by Lauralee Farrer to shoot her documentary Laundry and Tosca which went on to win several film festival awards. The experience was one of his most memorable to date, and he and Farrer were able to re-establish a fluid working style they began years before with a Pasadena-based theater company. Lee's fascination with film continues to evolve as he seeks out projects of substance and vision that require dynamic visuals in the telling of story. "I'm not so interested in letting the image draw attention to itself (unless that's called for), as I am in letting an image set a tone for the story and characters." Lee is a member of the International Cinematographer's Guild.