Instructor Biography
LeJean Easley
LeJean Easley was born on the South side of Chicago and grew up with a love of the city. She went away to college in the east, but knew she would return to the city of her birth. Which she did; with a studio art degree from Smith College in 2000. While she was at Smith, she developed a passion for large format film photography and naked self portraits. She also developed a critical eye, which she uses to observe and deal with composition and fine detail. LeJean used her experience and talents to teach at special educations schools. Then Richard Stromberg entered her life and told her to stop by the Chicago Photography Center (CPC).
LeJean started taking classes at CPC in August 2006 and found a home for her photography. Her first WithInsight show at CPC was film photography. Even though she had been in shows before, she never had to prep the walls, so there was still something new to learn. Drawing on her background and experiences, she now teaches the Photo III critique class and also mentors the WithInsight shows.
LeJean took CPC’s digital class series and participated in another WithInsight show as a digital photographer, in part so that she could answer questions her digital photo students have; the other part being that she loves the whole show process. Her heart belongs to film and the darkroom. Although she owns a digital camera and teaches a digital photo lab, she prefers to go to the darkroom to work her magic. In addition to teaching, she is also a CPC employee and is one of the constant faces you see at CPC.
