Born to a prosperous landowning father in Chiayi during the Japanese occupation in 1922, at age nine Lee developed a strong early interest in photography when he received a simple camera set from his father.
李淳陽，1922 年日治期間生於嘉義，父親是大地主，9 歲時，父親送他一套簡易的照相器材，使他開始對攝影產生濃厚興趣。