Today we’d like to introduce you to Yi-chia McMahon.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve always loved photographs. I believe every photo tells a unique story. I was especially motivated to take pictures when my first daughter was born. Like every new parent, I was so in love with this tiny human that I wanted to preserve every single little detail. I never wanted to forget this time. I made it a goal to take at least one photo a day during her first year of life.
Around the time my second daughter was born, my then job (in home design) came to an end, and I decided to make this photography hobby into more of a career, and started Always Maylee Photography. I wanted other parents to get the same feeling that I get when I look back on photos of my kids. Our children are only young for such a short period of time. The little dimples in the hands and feet of a baby. The way they dance with their entire body whenever they hear music. The smiles they give you because they think you’re the most amazing person in their world. These moments don’t last forever. But with a photo, they can. I capture moments of my own kids for this very reason. And this is what I seek to give to other parents as well.
Please tell us about your art.
I specialize in natural light, lifestyle family photography. I focus mostly on newborns, kids, and families. Most of my sessions include a lot of candid captures. When it comes to newborns, I don’t focus on posed or staged photos because my goal is for parents to look back on these photographs and remember what that moment was like. The excitement and the chaos that a new baby can bring, it’s all worth remembering. For young children, they don’t like being told to look at the camera, so I let them play and by doing that I’m able to catch them with genuine smiles.
My art is my preservation of memories. Genuine emotions and details that can take you back to the moment that the photo was taken. It’s cliché, but time is a thief. Before you know it, our children will be grown. It is so important to me to be able to hold onto these childhood memories for not only myself but for them to look back on when they’re older.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
I heard this quote around the time I first started comparing my work to others and it really resonated with me. “The only photographer you should compare yourself to, is the one you used to be”. I believe that the only time you should compare yourself to others is if it helps to motivate you to learn and improve. I am constantly learning, evolving, and improving my own art.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I am proud and honored to have one of my photographs published in Dear Photographer magazine, The Details Issue (April/May 2018).
You can find more of my family sessions on my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/AlwaysMaylee or my website, https://alwaysmayleephotography.com.
You can see more of my personal work on my Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/alwaysmaylee.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alwaysmayleephotography.com
- Email: alwaysmaylee@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alwaysmaylee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AlwaysMaylee
Image Credit:
All photos © 2017-2018 Always Maylee Photography.
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