Meet Starr Lee | Photographer | videographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Starr Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Starr, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Because I wasn’t seeing what I wanted to see. Even if I did, I always longed for being apart of those creative process, and the only way to get your foot in the door in this industry is by creating, even when no one knows your name, create. I’ve been very lucky with the supportive people that I surround myself around. My advice to anyone who wants to get started is to just start, the people you’ll meet on your journey, the skills you get from producing work is unmatched. Start now, the only thing holding yourself back is truly only you.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m currently trying to find the correct wording to describe what it is that I create. At first, I was shooting to solely capture the beauty of that individual, but recently I’ve been wanting to hone in on my work, so it can be identified as being my work. I’m looking more towards editorial and conceptual photography now, or making films like “The Handmaiden” or “Euphoria”. Thought provoking and beautiful. I don’t want things to be as clear. When you look at my work, I want someone to ponder for a bit before deciding what it is. Of course I appreciate aesthetically pleasing work and will continue to do that, but I’m ready to evolve now. All this untapped potential I haven’t accessed and there’s no reason why I haven’t. So it’s my time to.

I think what sets me apart is my willingness to change. I love feedback and improving and if someone corrects me, give me a bit, but I’ll implement that change. There are so many people who have better talent than I do, what would it look like for me to not take that advice. I love learning

Fortunately for me, I haven’t faced many challenges, well externally that is., there are a bunch of internal challenges for sure. Mostly fighting myself. You are your own worst critic. Sometimes I have a vision, but it is hard at times to translate what I see in my head into reality. When the final product is actualized, I’m often not happy with it. I’m not sure why that is yet or how to clearly articulate my ideas out of my head and display them for the real world, but hopefully one day I’ll figure that out.

I’ve learned to not boo yourself before other people got the chance to see what you’ve created. I have no idea why I’m so hard on myself and all of this self critiquing can led to me not wanting to create. After a few months of wanting nothing to do with film/photography, I finally want to create again.

I wan people to know that the reason why I’m joyous all of the time is because you really can find beauty in just about anything. Even in my tough times, I was never fully sad because there was weirdly always a silver lining. Sometimes if you wallow in sadness for too long you’ll stay sad. It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s also okay to just be okay. Things don’t have to be extremes, something I’m still trying to internalize. That goes for my work as well, I would prefer perfection, but I’m becoming more okay with, if I find that I’m okay with my work, that’s all I’ll ever need. Stay curious and be perfectly imperfect.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would of course start with all of the tourist traps. San Francisco is very small, but so much to dk. I would start at Ghirardelli Square, and walk through the piers, making sure to stop at pier 39. There are a bunch of seafood places all are recommend. Catch the street car F line to China town and do some shopping. Look at them make fortune cookies and grab some dim sum. There are so many spots, but you must bring cash. Because we are still in the area, head to SOMO/ the financial district and visit the park in the sky. The next day go to mission/Castro/Valencia district. Mission for Mexican food, I haven’t found a place that’s isn’t good. They also Happen to have a ramen making place and 10/10 recommend trying that out. There is also Dolores park. Castro just because it’s lively and they have a bunch I cute cafes and Valencia because it’s also nice to look at. They have a Thai/American brunch place there. The next day we can pretty much spend the whole day at the golden gate park, starting at the dutch windmill. And my ending at the botanical garden which is free second Tuesday’s for non residents. If you want to hope over too the beach we can as well, less than 5 mins away

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Cliche as it is, I’ll have to give the shout out to my mom. She was the main person that always encouraged me, no matter how bad my content was. With hindsight, my past work doesn’t compare to the expectations I have with my current work, but my mom always praised me. No matter how bad it was. If it wasn’t or her, I don’t think I would still be doing this.

Website: Www.yasmeenleephotography.com

Instagram: Yasmeenlee