Fade Resistance

Fade Resistance is an archival project by Toronto-based photographer and collector Zun Lee. In 2012, Lee found a discarded box of family Polaroid photos which sparked his decision to search auctions, thrift stores and online for images of Black life. Since then he has amassed a significant collection. 

These photographs were produced without the intention of being seen, or judged, by those outside of an intimate circle. By showing how black families document themselves over decades, this exhibition explores agency and empowerment in the self-depiction of the black community. 

Fade Resistance creates an opportunity to understand the construction of a collective memory. The viewer is able to see how each image is unique and stands on its own, but together creates a window into an underrepresented culture. Aunties, uncles, graduations, first bike rides, a little swagger and feelin' fresh – it's all here.

The Fade Resistance exhibition was a Wedge Curatorial Project co-curated by Zun Lee & Kenneth Montague, first exhibited February 2016 at The Gladstone Hotel in Toronto.