Rising Stars: Meet Brandon Yee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Yee.

Hi Brandon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am from a small coastal town in Northern California. Living so close to the ocean my entire childhood afforded me the luxury of developing my first passion – surfing. Most of my mornings typically started just before sunrise where the darkness of the sky had the slightest glow of light coming through a blanket of dense fog. I feel that during this time is where I started to develop an appreciation for light and the tonality of my surroundings.

I began making photographs when I was 11 as a crude attempt to document what life was like growing up on the California coast. While making photographs throughout my teenage years, I was able to integrate myself in the surf photography community, a unique world where photo and surf junkies thrived. I later decided to study photography and graphic design in college where my work turned towards documenting the human narrative with a reportage style of approach.

After I graduated, I fell under very fortunate circumstances and got first photo-related job as a stage manager at Los Angeles’ Smashbox Studios for a few years. While cutting my teeth at the photo studio, I was able to make invaluable connections with photographers who provided me with work as a photo assistant. When I felt that I had enough on-set experience and was confident in the network that I had built around myself in the photo industry, I left my job at Smashbox and I am now working as a freelance lighting technician and photographer in Los Angles. There is a high chance you may have seen some of my work on the cover of a magazine, billboard in LA, or in a commercial on TV.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The photo industry in LA is a lot smaller than it may seem. Well-established photographers have photo teams that they have been working with for years and everyone seems to know everyone in some capacity. It was quite an intimidating world and finding my way into the photo industry was my biggest challenge.

My first job out of college in 2017 was with a ceramics company in West Hollywood where I worked as a Creative Marketing Manager. It was absolutely terrible. I was two months in and already wanted to quit. The owner was morally twisted and we would constantly butt heads which ultimately led to me being fired. It was the best thing that had ever happened to me. In the few short weeks that I was with the company, I had managed to trade contact information with a photographer named Adam while he was on assignment for the New York Times to photograph the owner of my company as well as the space. I decided to reach out to him for a cup of coffee and to hear more about his work/process. He happily accepted and we got together at a cafe in Culver City. We ended up talking more about life than photography, laughed about how I got fired, and then he was kind enough to offer me a chance to assist him on set.

For that next year, I worked for Adam from time to time while doing other freelance graphic design and retouching jobs – hungry for work and barely able to pay my rent as recently unemployed, broke young adult. In this time, Adam had become a mentor and very close friend of mine, always looking out for me while never seeking anything in return. After struggling to support myself financially as a creative in LA, Adam would eventually be the connection to me getting the job at Smashbox Studios which served as the ultimate introduction to the photo industry. We now work together even more frequently as both of our careers have been on a very positive trajectory.

Also, the NYT story that Adam came to shoot while I was working at the ceramics store never ran because the day after I was fired, every other employee that was with the company quit because of their distaste with the owner. We still laugh about that to this day and it really speaks volumes to treating the people that work below and beside you with respect at all times. That alone will get you far in life.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My personal photographic work is rooted in communicating the human narrative, as well as the subtleties of the moments in between. This does not take away from the fact that I still have an interest in surf photography, going back to where it all started for me almost 17 years ago.

So far, I am most proud of the first set of photographs that I had published in the New York Times, featured as a double-page spread in an article about how people of color are represented in the surf community. Surfing and photography have always served as invaluable parts of my life. They keep me honest, they challenge me, and they constantly surprise me. The opportunity to put my two favorite mediums of self-expression into a project and see the results in physical print was something I never would have imagined as a child. It’s funny to see how things really do come full circle.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I’ve learned a lot of lessons along my journey – mostly the hard way through failure or rejection, but everything turned out to be pretty okay. Something I think everyone can apply to their life is to never pass up on an opportunity to connect or reach out to a person that interests you. Send that email or direct message asking them to meet for coffee. The worst thing that can happen is they never respond or tell you to fuck off. If they say yes, the upside to that outcome is endless. It’s like asking someone out on a date, but easier.

Contact Info:

• Website: brandonchristopherphoto.com
• Instagram: _brandoncphoto