I’m Suzette Lee, a multidisciplinary artist and creative director passionate about transforming experiences into vibrant hubs of creativity and connection. My work combines art, design, and storytelling to explore themes of history, nature, and community—whether through craft workshops in wild landscapes or collaborations with brands like Arc'teryx, Snow Peak, and Airbnb. With a background in photography and experience fostering community connection across hospitality, tech, art, and design, I enjoy developing high-level strategies with brands for immersive experiences that spark curiosity, inspire creativity, and bring people closer to the stories that surround them.

My dad was a photographer who developed his own photos in a homemade darkroom in his apartment. I grew up studying his early portraits of my mom from when they were dating, which sparked my fascination with photography as a form of storytelling. In school, I explored color theory, painting, and color photo printmaking, which taught me the fundamentals of composition and color. At 14, I taught myself HTML and created a website to share my photography blog, blending creativity with an emerging digital world. Over time, my style has shifted to focus more on the narrative—the story behind the image—rather than just technical precision.

At 8 years old, I would use my brother's Talkboy to record interviews with my family. Even then, I was fascinated by storytelling and imagined becoming a reporter. By 13, my photographs were published in Rick Smolan's A Day in the Life of America and the SF Chronicle. At 19, I attended the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop in upstate New York, where renowned photojournalists mentor 100 hand-selected students. I was given a portrait assignment at Liberty Jail and won a Nikon Award for capturing the inmates from a different, playful perspective. In college, I also studied cultural anthropology while working in Vibe Magazine’s photo department and taking freelance gigs. These formative experiences taught me to see the world—and our interconnectedness—through a more thoughtful, expansive lens.


The backyard of my childhood home was an open-space park—an isolated island ecosystem on Native Ohlone land, much like the rest of the Bay Area. My brothers and I spent countless hours exploring the wild landscape: foraging, gardening with my mom, hiking, and creek wandering. Our family has also taken annual trips to Yosemite National Park for nearly 36 years, where we’ve learned to hike, appreciate, and respect the land together.

My mom continues to teach me the importance of tending a garden—giving back to the earth as it gives to us. Without realizing it, she instilled lessons about the power to create and destroy, and the need to choose growth and care. Plants make food and medicine from light and water and then give it away freely; an inherent generosity in nature that inspires me.

From nature, I’ve also learned that creation happens in stages: gather, experiment, craft, and complete. We often overemphasize the permanence of our work, but in reality, each project is a stepping stone—part of an ongoing, evolving rhythm in a lifelong creative journey.

Yosemite National Park truly feels like home—a place where, year after year, I uncover new insights about myself and my creative process.

I love connecting the unexpected and celebrating the environments and cultures that shape me. When asked to develop a photography project with Arc'teryx, I thought of my family—mountain people at heart—and explored that connection. I approach all my projects with partners who recognize the value of sharing unique and underrepresented expressions with the world.

My work remains visual but has become more experiential, focusing on fostering community. We all have many sides to us, and it’s easy to accept a flattened, simplified version of ourselves. My creative practice seeks to express our fuller, truer forms—embracing complexity, exploration, and growth.

As an artist, I start with a question that guides me through a journey of discovery. The surprises along the way often expand the work—and even the art form itself. I’ve been traveling parts of the world, researching and documenting my family’s stories and bloodline, with an ongoing focus on women’s overlooked narratives.

I’ve begun observing family patterns and realizing how little voice women had in previous generations—often reduced to “Mrs. Lee” with no identity of their own. This awareness drives me to create work that reclaims and preserves those legacies.

The outdoors teaches coexistence, even among opposites. It’s a privilege to witness this harmony and to understand that even what feels unfamiliar or challenging can teach us something valuable. Just as in nature, embracing diverse perspectives can lead to more dynamic, unexpected, and enriching outcomes.

Nature reveals that some seeds lie dormant, waiting for the right season to grow. Art is no different. Some ideas are not yet ready—or we’re not yet ready for them. Other times, nurturing one idea can illuminate another.

Zoom in and obsess. Zoom out and observe. As artists, we strive to restore our childlike perception—a state of wonder and curiosity untethered to utility or survival. That’s where inspiration lives.

A big thank you to Suzette for sharing her story and offering a glimpse into her creative process. We're inspired by her ability to weave together nature and family life into all that she does.

Check out some of Suzette's previous work, and keep an eye out for future projects by following her on @smallmediumlee.