Becky Yee

Becky Yee (/ˈliːbəvɪts/; born July 4, 1969) is an American portrait photographer.

Becky Yee
Born (1969-07-04) July 4, 1969
New York, New York, U.S.
NationalityUnited States of America
EducationSUNY Buffalo; Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
Known forPhotography

Early life

Born in New York, New York, on July 4, 1969, Yee is a third generation Chinese American. She has 1 older sister and 1 step brother, Noel Yee juggler, performer. Her family moved all over the New York area in her primary years and was a big influence on her photography as an adult. "When you move often, you learn to build relationships quickly and also learn how to move on from them, which is very similar to a shoot/set environment." says Yee. Her parents divorced and her father gained custody of the children when Yee was 12. Shortly thereafter he was in a life-threatening car accident and became a paraplegic. This strong and tall man would always see life differently and from a different viewpoint. He encouraged his children to be involved in martial arts of which his oldest daughter took advantage of, but Yee was more interested in ballet, but she ultimately got involved in Japanese Martial Arts and is a 4th degree blackbelt in Kendo and has been practicing and competing for over 20 years, winning tournaments in Tokyo as well as the East Coast Woman's Kendo Championship. She also developed her love of photography at an early age after steeling her sister's Mikey Mouse Camera. In high school, her father bought her a SLR camera and started to experiment and learn the ins and outs of photography.

Early Career/Japan

Yee went did her undergraduate degree in SUNY Buffalo and received her degree in Communications in 1991. After college she worked went to work for J. Walter Thompson as a production manager working on the team to launch Prozac. Upon leaving there, she went to work at Wilhelmina Models in handling the kids model search, as well as doing PR and Meeting Planning at ... all giving her invaluable experience in planning and coordinating events which would prove invaluable as a photographer and in new project, Around Digital Media. Because of her love of Kendo and Japanese Culture, she went to Cornell University in 1996 and enrolled in their FALCon program (Full Year Asian Language Concentration) which is a 12-month immersion in Japanese, and received her certificate in 1997. The last quarter she moved to Japan and studied abroad at Hokkaido University in Sapporo and didn't come back to the US for 9 years. It was during this time that Yee decided to pursue her passion for photography. Acclaimed fashion photographer, Yoshihito Sasaguchi took her under his wing as his photo assistant and taught her about photography. He saw that she had an eye for it, but that she didn't know the ins and outs of photography so Yee credits him with teaching her to be the photographer she is today.

She has developed a style of photography that captures the Japanese concept of ura (backside) and omote (front side), and shows through her work the duplicitous private and public side to her subjects. As writer Jean Snow describes her exhibit at the Nakaochiai Gallery "Back to the Streets,” "Yee redirects attention to the shotengai by juxtaposing these fading communities with the youth culture and fashion found in the city’s major centers. The extreme difference between Ura and Omote, or the surface and what lies beneath, is what continues to influence much of her work. The mainstream of much of Japanese society contrasts with what she calls, “the city’s crazy underworld of culture and landscape.”".[1] Additionally in 2005, Yee was selected for the prestigious 2005 Photo District News (PDN) Photo Annual for Corporate Design-Photo Products for the brand Prohibit's men's fashion catalog.[2]

Becky Yee Photography

Upon moving back to New York in 2008, Yee has been busy with exhibitions and also reestablishing herself as a versatile photographer in her editorial, commercial and curated work. Her work was displayed at the 2008 Media Facades Festival in Berlin, Germany.[3] She has worked with corporate clients such as designer Anna Sui to being featured in a Sony campaign for their new camera, the Alpha NEX7.[4] One of the first exhibitions she released was "More Than A Woman" which was written up in the Village Voice as well as Art Forum.[5] This was a controversial exhibition that chronicles a man in Tokyo, who proclaims to be the world's largest collector of "Dutch Wives" (Datchu-waifu) with over 70 anatomically correct, life-sized sex dolls. Yee continues to develop projects and exhibitions that utilize photography, video, music and other media to create unique images that show the provocative and vulnerable side of her subjects and topics.

Around Digital Media

Around Digital Media is a new venture from Yee, that focuses on commercial clients providing them a comprehensive collection of content to launch a new project. Working with a diverse creative team, the team comes up with visuals for all of their marketing and promotional needs. The concept is to shoot exclusive as well as shared content; video, photos, behind the scenes, interviews, graphics, advertising spots, and then create a 1-month, 3 month and/or 6 month roll out strategy to use these assets to maximize their marketing dollars.

Corporate Clients

Anna Sui, Isetan, Tumi Inc., Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, Piper Heidsieck Champagne, Sony, Sony Music, BMG Music, Victor Records, Wieden + Kennedy (Nike ID), J Walter Thompson, Hakuhodo, Dentsu, NHK, NAM, No Concept but Good Sense, Diesel (brand), Brooklyn Surfer, Prohibit, Over the 12, Westwood Outfitters.

Exhibitions/Projects

2010-Current
  • 2013-Faces to Hide-Collaboration with Yuka Oyama - Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH
  • 2013-Think Inside the Box, Red and Pink Group Show - A.I.R. Gallery, Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY
  • 2011-More Than a Woman, Solo Photography Exhibition, HPGRP Gallery – Chelsea, New York, NY, USA
  • 2011-More Than a Woman - Sacred Space Sideluck Pot Show, Group Slide Presentation, Judson Memorial Church, New York, NY, USA
  • 2011-Back to the Streets—書店外里帰り - Sakura Matsuri, Solo Photography Exhibition, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Brooklyn, NY, USA
  • 2010-Metamorphic Spirit - Europe Media Facades Festival, Multimedia Presentation Collaboration with Yuka Oyama on Outdoor Media Screens, Milan, Italy; Istanbul, Turkey
  • 2010-Metamorphic Spirit- Europe Media Facades Festival, Multimedia Presentation Collaboration with Yuka Oyama on Outdoor Media Screens, Group Show, Derrudas Katze, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
  • 2010-ASA Project (formerly known as the Worry Wall Project, Multimedia Presentation and Live Music Performance Collaboration with Beaumont, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA
  • 2010-Good Girl BAG Girl – Beautiful Taboo, Group Art Exhibition, Beautiful Taboo, SuperDeluxe, Tokyo, Japan

2001-2009
  • 2009-Worry Wall Project, Multimedia Presentation and Live Music Performance Collaboration with Beaumont, Gershwin Hotel, New York, NY, USA
  • 2009-Worry Wall Project, Multimedia Presentation and Live Music Performance Collaboration with Beaumont, Baron Studios, New York, NY, USA
  • 2009-Worry Wall Project, Multimedia presentation and live music performance, The Garment Room, New York, NY, USA
  • More Than a Woman, Solo Photography Exhibition, HPGRP Gallery – Meatpacking District, New York, NY, USA,[6][7]
  • 2008-Metamorphic Spirit - MedienFassaden Festival Berlin 2008, Multimedia Presentation Collaboration with Yuka Oyama on Outdoor Media Screens, Gasometer Tower, Berlin, Germany
  • 2008-Back to the Streets—書店外里帰り - Urban Communities – New Life Berlin Art Festival, Solo Photography Exhibition, Berlin, Germany
  • 2007-Red Box Project, Group Photography Exhibition, Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • 2007-Red Box Project, Group Photography Exhibition, SuperDeluxe, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2007-Tiles - Shinjuku Electric Lady Land Series Part I, Group Photography Exhibition, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, New York, USA
  • 2006-Tokyo in 2 Series, Group Photography Exhibition, Naka-Ochiai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2006-Tokyo in 2 series, Multimedia Presentation, Apple Store Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2005-Back to the Streets—書店外里帰り, Solo Photography Exhibition, Naka-Ochiai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2005-Art for Art’s Sake – NAM Collection, 8mm Movie Presentation, HPGRP Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2004-3P: All Girls Camera Orgy, Group Photography Exhibition, HPGRP Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2004-Shinjuku Electric Lady Land, Group Photography Exhibition, HPGRP Ginza, Tokyo
  • 2004-Extreme Christmas Decorations, Photography Collaboration with Yuka Oyama, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 2003-Good Girl Bag Girl - Eyesaw, Group Photography Exhibition, Le Deco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2003-Schmuck Quickies, Photography & Art Collaboration with Yuka Oyama, HPGRP Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2003-Schmuck Quickies, Photography & Art Collaboration with Yuka Oyama, Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial, Niigata, Japan
  • 2002-No Concept but Good Sense – Yoichi Nagasawa Retrospective, Group Photography Exhibition, Kobe Fashion Museum, Kobe, Japan
  • 2002-The World Beneath My Skin - Trash Asia, Multimedia Presentation, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2001-Erika without her wig - UNESCO Group Show - Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan

Books/Publications/Periodicals
  • 2009 More Than A Woman - HPGRP Gallery Publishing, USA
  • 2005 Xtreme Fashions - Prestel Books, Munich, Berlin, London, New York
  • Schmuck Quickies - Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art Publications, Great Britain
  • 2003 Yuka Oyama Tokamachi Catalogue - Tokamachi Publication, Japan
  • 2002 Yoichi Nagasawa Retrospective - Tankosha Publishing, Japan

Periodicals

GQ Japan, GQ Germany, GQ Thailand, GQ Korea, Esquire Japan, Marie Claire Korea, Nylon, Nylon Japan, MTV Iggy, Menstyle.com, Condenast.com, Nerve.com, Elle.com, NME, Rolling Stone, YRB Magazine, PIG, Switch, Oceans, Neutral, H, Relax, Barfout, Eyescream, Pinky, Fiercieve, Seventeen, InStyle, Glamour Espagna, Marie Claire, Sydney Morning Herald Magazine, Zipper, 180, Croissant, etc.

Awards
  • 2009 Critics Picks, ArtForum, New York, “More Than A Woman” solo exhibition[8]
  • 2009 Best in Show, Village Voice, “More Than A Woman” solo exhibition[9]
  • 2009 Voice Choices, “Village Voice, More Than A Woman” solo exhibition[10]
  • 2008 International Photography Cup – Nudes, Red Box Project, London, England
  • 2005 PDN Photo Annual, Photo Products Design, Prohibit Men’s Fashion Catalog, New York, NY

Education
  • 1998 Hokkaido University, Summer Exchange Scholarship, Sapporo, Japan
  • 1997 Cornell University, FALCon Program (Japanese), Ithaca, New York
  • 1991 State University of New York at Buffalo, Bachelor of Arts, College of Arts and Science Department of Communications,Buffalo, New York

References
  1. "Becky Yee at the Nakaochiai Gallery by Jean Snow Wednesday, November 3, 2005". jeansnow.net. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  2. "DM 2005 Photo Annual, 2005". www.musarium.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  3. "Metamorphic Spirit by Yuka Oyama and Becky Yee, 2008". www.mediafacades.eu/2008.com. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  4. "Touched By Tech: Becky Yee, Photographer/Videographer by Sony, Wednesday, May 3, 2012". sonyelectronics.com. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  5. "Becky Yee: Critics Choice by Cameron Shaw Wednesday, March 4, 2009". artforum.com. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  6. http://artforum.com/archive/id=22200
  7. "New York Becky Yee-Critics Pick: by Cameron Shaw, Wednesday, March 4, 2009". artforum.com. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  8. "Becky Yee: Critics Choice by Cameron Shaw Wednesday, March 4, 2009". artforum.com. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  9. "Becky Yee: "'More Than a Woman' Best In Show by Robert Shuster, Wednesday, February 25, 2009". villagevoice.com. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  10. "PLASTIC POLYGAMY by Angela Ashman Wednesday, Feb 4 2009". villagevoice.com. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
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