D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July 2009
Wandering Eye
From New York to San Francisco, Cuba to Las Cruces, photographer and filmmaker Robert Yee captures images worth keeping.
By Jeff Berg
Las Cruces photojournalist and filmmaker Robert Yee was born in New York, so perhaps his choice of career shouldn't be surprising. "It's natural to try and capture all the crazy stuff that goes on in New York City," he says. "I went to an art camp when I was 13, and began to seriously take photos and do printing."
Yee later lived in Hawaii briefly while attending college there, spent two years at SUNY and attended the Art Institute of San Francisco, before graduating from San Francisco State.
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Robert Yee, self-portrait. |
Moving to the San Francisco Bay Area also influenced his photography. Yee found that, while New York was more suitable for black-and-white work, California's light demanded color. So does the light of his current home state, New Mexico, as shown on this issue's cover.
Work experiences after graduation began with the world's largest design company, Landor Associates.
"I was working in media, doing slide shows and photography," Yee recalls. "While doing multimedia slide shows, I learned how to use the projectors and other equipment and liked the idea of doing movement through slides. This led to work in video production, including some animation, and working with editors. I was able to talk the department into buying (video) cameras, and I started shooting video at that time."
Yee got caught in a round of layoffs, but was fortunate enough to land on his feet. Some of the people he had worked with through Landor were impressed by his work, which allowed for some freelance assignments. Best of all, being self-employed allowed Yee to "do work on my own terms."
Working with Apple in the late 1980s, Yee was able to do his first big video project, which was a piece on what it was like to work for the pioneering computer company.
"I did this with imaging and stills and voice over, and after that, I was able to consider myself an independent producer," he says.
When Apple introduced Final Cut Pro, software that allows filmmakers to edit their own work instead of relying on a multitude of editors, he says, "I was able to gain more experience working with clients from high-tech companies. This allowed me to travel, to Asia, Europe and South America."
But there is an audible change in Yee's tone when he shares his freelance experiences that pertain more to the arts than to business. "On the side I was working with performance artists, dancers and others, and began shooting (video) of the performances by the Somai Yoshino Taiko Ensemble."
This connection not only added to Yee's portfolio — it ultimately became the catalyst for his move to Las Cruces.
"Taiko" is the word for drum in the Japanese language. According to the Somai Yoshino Taiko Ensemble's website, "taiko" performances are a tradition dating back some 2,000 years. The performances blend "movement, rhythm, philosophy and form," and allow the drummer to "become one" with the instrument.
The ensemble was able to travel to Cuba in 2005, with Yee accompanying to film part of the trip. "It was some of my most difficult, but most rewarding work," he recalls. "I spent 10 days shooting video."
While in Cuba, Yee was also able to enjoy another of his passions, music. "There is still pure music there," he muses. Also, as a closet baseball fan, Yee was able to meet the only Cuban-Japanese player who ever played professionally.
Yee's trip also introduced him to the plight of Japanese-Cuban citizens who lived on the island during World War II. Unlike the people of Japanese citizenry who were placed in internment camps in the US during the war, Yee learned that those in Cuba were actually imprisoned.
The next year, Yee's continued travels with the Somai Yoshino Taiko Ensemble brought him to Las Cruces, where the group had a performance at NMSU.
"I told them if they would fly me out, I would shoot the performances." A deal was struck and Yee made his first trip to Las Cruces.
"One of my former business partners had lived in Las Cruces about 25 years earlier, and just loved it here," he says. The partner was a strong influence on Yee's decision to head south. 
Yee also found another connection to the desert before coming here — one that is more spiritual in nature.
"A couple of years back, I had found a photo of a young Native American man that was taken near the mountains," he says. "It was perhaps a hundred years old. I really identified with that picture in a spiritual way and felt that I might be that young man."
Yee's interest in spirituality and reincarnation/near-death became a catalyst for a short film he made about two individuals who died and seemingly came back.
With a friend, Yee returned a short time later for a second visit to Las Cruces. "We looked around, did some Web research, and decided to come back, and we both bought houses."
For a while, Yee kept his production-company office open in San Francisco, making occasional forays back to the West Coast for projects. But recently, he closed that office and now operates exclusively out of Las Cruces.
In addition to running his own production and editing company, Yee works as a Media Specialist at NMSU and teaches photography classes through the city's Museum of Art. There, he says, his teaching challenge is to create good photos by people with low-tech skills.
"It is a very interactive class, with a very supportive atmosphere," he adds.
His own work has progressed even further since he has started at NMSU. "My work at NMSU has changed the way I shoot now. Most of what I am doing requires more lighting, as opposed to what I had been doing, and their equipment is some of the best that is being made."
Even most of his outside activities seem to circle back to learning more about his craft. Belonging to a local hiking group has not only given Yee the opportunity to see and photograph some beautiful and remote areas of the desert; he now incorporates an outside field trip into his museum classes. His interest in film and video led him to the Mesilla Valley Film Society, first as a box-office volunteer, and for the last couple of years as one of the hardest-working board members. Of course, Yee photographs all of the film society's special events at the Fountain Theatre.
Like most photographers nowadays, his work is done only with digital cameras, with 35mm film being a thing of the past. He says, "Using digital allows me to shoot more and to experiment in other ways."
But he also always returns to photography after doing video work.
"I like the simplicity of it, the immediacy, and it all comes down to composition and having good technological skills.
"It's a certain feeling you get when you are in a creative mode," Yee adds. "Every photo is a self-portrait, or else you wouldn't take it — it's a reflection on what you find that is worth keeping."
To see more of Robert Yee's work, check the following websites: www.robertyeeproductions.com, taikoensemble.com/index_downloads.html