Behind the Lens

Interview with Cecy Young

Born in 1987 in Mexico, Cecy Young went to art school and
specialised in photography. She started taking pictures early in
college after living in Buenos Aires for 7 months. She is the
co-founder of Porcelaine Studio with her friend and photographer Marianna Garcia, and has lately created P. Magazine.

When did you realize you wanted to do photography ? How did it happen ?

When I was little I wanted to be an artist, just didn’t know what kind. I was sort of lost, to tell the truth. I went to art school because I wanted to be a painter and ended up having no talent for painting and discovered photography instead.

Why do you explore Fashion and Portrait more than any other type of photography ? 

Yes, when I first started I experimented with several kinds of photography. I do like documenting but I don’t like the fact that I cannot plan the idea, I kind of prefer planning my shoot because that way I feel I have all the control and everything is controlled.
How would you describe your style ?

Feminine, eccentric at times, unexpected, natural light, strong women, sexy, colorful.

You have said that having a mixture of reality along with fantasy and surrealism in fashion photography is very interesting to you, and a strong medium of exploration. Why do you find surrealism
in Fashion Photography interesting ? Is there an emotion or a feeling you try to demonstrate and show your viewers ?

I like to work within fashion in photography because it gives me the liberty to create and invent something unique and beautiful. And at the same time, to find new ideas and to surprise myself with the colours, the situation, the amount of control you have over it while creating something new. Fashion photography lets you express yourself in a beautiful and aesthetic way while telling a story and caring for the details.

If you could only choose one favorite photographer, who would it be, and why ?

Guy Bourdin, because his work is so iconic, the colors, the strong women, the unique ideas.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your studio Porcelaine ?

Porcelaine is a project that I created with my partner and lovely friend the photographer Mariana García. It’s based in Monterrey, Mexico and we started it because we needed a bigger team to work in commercial jobs. So we got associated (incorporated) and now it has evolved into founding P Magazine along with the design studio Face.

You currently live in Paris ; do you plan on staying there ? Where do you see yourself in 5 years ?

I would love to live in Japan or Mexico City in the future. But mainly I’m looking forward to Asia. Right now I’m good with Paris and absolutely love living there but I don’t like making long term plans.

One thing people do not know about you ?

I’m vegetarian and strong supporter of animal welfare.

What do you usually do on a Saturday, day and night ? What does your usual Saturday looks like ?

I wish I had a dog ! I sometimes work but when I don’t it varies between watching TV series or going to picnics, a bar or a restaurant.

Since you are working in a fashionable environment, do you follow trends ? Do you have favorite brands ?

No, I don’t really follow trends. I am not so aware of them, I do follow some people within fashion that post runway shows and stuff like that. Some of my favorite brands are Miu Miu, House of Holland, Sonia Rykiel, Bimba&Lola, Topshop, The Kooples.

If it were not for photography, what other career would you have done ?

Animation, I would love to create animated films.

Do you still paint / draw (since art college) ?

Sometimes but just to plan shoots or for myself… I do collage lately.

Can you tell me a very memorable shoot ?

Ah so many ! But probably shooting with my stylist friend Nayeli, because we always get so excited and we have similar ideas and vision. We are always jumping around and I have a lot of fun and it’s just a great environment to work.

Thank you for your time, Cecy !