Who is Yi Li?
Messy hair, don't care
She’s the sweet and funny girl who made me a mother. Yi Li (pronounced EE lee) is my oldest daughter’s Chinese middle name. She’s a loving big sis to her little brother & sister who have yet to ask about this blatant show of favoritism, but I’m sure I have some explaining to do in the future! What can I say?! The twins were still a twinkle in my eye when the business had its beginnings.
Meet Carrie
I believe
- Being a parent is beautiful, exhausting, hilarious, soul-stretching, and extraordinary, all within the same 24 hours.
- I will have mom fails, but tomorrow is a new day and I’ll try again. Thank goodness for second chances.
- The struggles & mess make the moments of *magic* and bliss completely worth it.
- Every person has a fascinating story to tell that’s worthy of being recorded & shared.
- We can only superficially comprehend how valuable a visual record of a day from our kids’ childhood will be to them when they are adults with families of their own.
A bit of my story
Friends describe me as honest, relatable, observant, and hilarious. You can come up with your own words after we spend the day together!
I’m an outgoing introvert, and people are often surprised to hear this. I love small groups of people and cherish deep, meaningful relationships.
I’ve got an amazingly supportive husband and 3 awesome kids, including boy/girl twins, though we struggled with infertility for what felt like forever before becoming parents. Motherhood didn’t feel natural or easy for me; the early days (years?) were filled with a lot of crazy, and it’s taken me a while to grow into this role. Now that the kids are (mostly) sleeping through the night, I’m loving our crazy imperfection way more than any Pinterest pipe dream.
I’m a hoarder of memories and photos. I love that a photograph can bring me right back to a moment otherwise forgotten: the sound of my son’s amazingly joyful belly laugh, and the feeling of his fuzzy hair against my cheek. I love holding real, printed photographs in my hands, and it’s such a joy for me to create images that capture the essence of a person or the connection & love between family members.
These photos of my family were taken by the lovely Kate Densmore Photography, and they make my heart exceedingly happy.
Honors & Collaborations
Published in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of Click Magazine
Editors’ Choice for Creative Excellence | Finding the Light
Finalist in 2015 VOICE Collection for Newness & Self Portrait
Editors’ Choice for Creative Excellence | Capture Contemporary Culture with your Camera
2015 Shoot & Share Photo contest, 8th place in Maternity category
Sham of the Perfect | Perfectly Real Artist Feature, April 2015
Editors’ Choice for Creative Excellence | Unconventional self-portrait
Giving back
I’m proud to volunteer my time and talent as a volunteer photographer for Soulumination, a non-profit organization based in Seattle that celebrates the lives of children and parents facing life-threatening conditions by providing professional photographs of these special individuals and their families, free of charge.
The life-affirming photographs of Soulumination are an enduring, positive record of the child’s life, and provide a loving legacy for the children of parents lost to terminal illness.
People often comment on how emotionally difficult this work must be, and yes, at times it can be, but I consider it an honor to be a part of such sacred work.