YC (they, them) was born in Guilin in China, grew up in San Francisco, and studied Photography and Graphic Design at San Jose State University, California; moved to New York in 2018.
Spending their childhood and early teenage year in China has built their creative foundation through practicing calligraphy, sketching, and saxophone. With the dramatic environmental change, language barriers, and significantly changing lifestyle pace, YC has gone through a one-year depression at age 16, but photographing her friends became the only joy.
With a plan to study Graphic Design, YC got invited to a senior project in a photo studio and finally connected all the dots of beauty, music, color, form, function, design, light and shadow, life, and fantasy all in Photography.
While finishing their degree, they assisted San Francisco Architecture photographer Cesar Rubio in photographing residential homes, houses, offices, lobby, bank, and buildings.
In New York, YC assisted photographers Yu Tsai, Andres Hernandez, Rachel Neville, and Olaf Wipperfürth; worked as a digital tech with Photographer Daniel Cavanaugh at Helmut Lang, Theory's Studio, and with brands of Zadig and Voltaire, and 7 for All Mankind. YC also Production assisted for V Magazine, Elle China, Health Magazine, The Knot Magazine, Tommy Hilfiger, Simon's Mall, David Yurman Campaign.