April 21, 2026

Guardians of Life Book Officially Launched

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 0 Comments

Kiliii’s new book, Guardians of Life: Indigenous Science, Indigenous Wisdom, and Restoring the Planet, has just been released. Featuring a decade of his National Geographic photography, the book includes contributions from two dozen Indigenous authors and is edited by bestselling author Charles Mann (1491).

“A visually dazzling and deeply informative collection that will linger with readers long after the last page.”

–Kirkus Reviews

How have the world’s most iconic natural wonders—the Pacific’s coral reefs, the Amazon rainforest, the Arctic tundra—remained so vibrant? They have flourished under the careful guidance of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Guardians of Life reveals why these communities are the planet’s most effective conservationists. Join National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan, bestselling author Charles Mann, and a chorus of Indigenous contributors on a breathtaking visual journey—from Mongolia’s sacred mountains to Australia’s fire-managed woodlands—celebrating the power of Indigenous values, traditional ecological knowledge, and modern innovation in protecting the life that sustains our planet.

Play

“Gorgeous, inspiring photo essay of indigenous conservation methods. Yüyan’s masterful photography thrills as it brings these voices to life and demonstrates what the world looks like when TEK is put into practice.”

–Publisher’s Weekly Booklife

January 13, 2026

Underwater Strobe Shootout: Apollo III 2.0, Retra Maxi, Seacam 160D, Retra Pro Max 2

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 0 Comments

Forget the art and storytelling parts of photography for a moment: in underwater photography, technology is necessary (sigh). So let’s talk gear. Today, I’m posting my comparative review of the Marelux Apollo III 2.0 underwater strobe, the Retra Maxi, Retra Pro Max 2, and Seacam Seaflash 160D. Thanks to the Apollo review by the incredible Henley Spiers that intrigued me with the possibilities of high-framerate shooting.

Rather than falling for the marketing guff and creative math manufacturers use to sell, I put these strobes through a gauntlet of quantitative testing. I’m looking at power, light quality, and whether they can keep up with a excited and flamboyant leopard seal.¹ I also spent some quality time judging their ergonomics and batteries to see which of the two finalists actually deserves a spot in my baggage. Although, come to think of it, I’m not sure that’s actually a reward.

The Contenders

The strobes I chose are among the most powerful and widely used. The major ones I left out that would have been great to test are the Ikelite DS230 and Backscatter Hybrid Flash 1, but these were what I had available. The three on the left represent the latest generation of strobes, although it seems that increasingly manufacturers are seeing the light and heading towards strobes powered by lithium-ion, particularly in the 18700 and 21700 sizes, used in many dive lights.

If you’ve stumbled onto this review through the interwebs, I am Kiliii Yuyan, a National Geographic photographer, and about a third of my work is underwater. In the water, I have dived the Seacam 160D, the Sea and Sea YS-D3 extensively, and to a lesser extent the Retra Flash Pro Max II and the Ikelite DS160. The Seacam has been the workhorse for its high output power, and I love the ergonomics and quality of light. I primarily dive cold water, sometimes under sea ice, and sometimes in bath blue water.

This review is basically a studio test, to quantitatively test the capabilities of these strobes and the quality of their light in highly controlled conditions. Real life testing will happen eventually, maybe, but that’s just making pictures right? If I find out that these strobes somehow shoot differently under real conditions, I’ll be sure to update this review.

Test Setups and Conditions

• Camera Settings: All strobes were fired from the same position using identical Nikon Z8 settings: ISO 32, f/22, and 1/200s, with the exception of the minimum power images, which were shot at f/5.6 instead, since they were so dim. All batteries are freshly charged and in excellent condition.
• Scene Setup: The scene was setup at 66cm, or 2/3 of a meter. Using an angle measure I measured an output cone from the strobe, the edge of the test frame to the right and left makes for an approximately 120 degree beam angle.
• Brightness Output: I used a script in Photoshop to measure brightness² at different points of the circle of light for every strobe test shot. The first was at the center, the second about midway to the edge, then three more working out to the edge of the beam. This worked remarkably well, giving me far more reliable exposure info than using my eyes to guess. The brightness values are overlaid at the top left of each test shot.
• Flashmeter: In order to gauge the comparative power output of each strobe, so we stop guessing, I backed up the averaged brightness values with a flashmeter, which is included in every shot.³ The flashmeter proved to be a good backup but often did not register any value at all, for whatever reason, and I couldn’t get it to on repeated tries. But the meter generally confirmed the photoshop brightness values well.
• Timing: I made sure to give 3 seconds between each strobe firing, and 30 seconds between sequences of continuous firing.

Strobe Power and Light Quality

Manufacturers are great at fabricating coming up with numbers to beat their competitors. So we have to do our own practical tests.

My shooting style involves balancing strobes against ambient light. Since ambient fills in shadows, softness of light is secondary. I am testing for optimal wide-angle light distribution, which means achieving an even beam coverage that is also wide enough to allow a large margin of error with strobe placement. There’s enough going on underwater and adjusting strobes, especially under ice, is just something I prefer to be reasonably forgiving.

I am also interested in the maximum power output for bright sun days in the shallows and the minimum power output for overcast green water.

Maximum Power

The Winners are, in Order:

1. Retra Maxi– Very Bright (Flashmeter says f/32 at ISO 100)
2. Apollo III – About 0.6 stops below the Maxi
3. Retra Pro Max 2- 82% of the Apollo
4. Seacam 160D- 75% of the Apollo

Minimum Power

The Winners are (ideally, we want the lowest possible minimum):

1. Retra Maxi– Very Dim (Flashmeter says f/1 at ISO 100)
2. Apollo III in MTL Mode (We will talk about MTL Mode later) and Retra Pro Max 2
3. Seacam 160D and Apollo III in M Mode

The Retra Maxi has a very very low minimum power, which is amazing. The Apollo III in MTL Mode and Retra Pro Max 2 have very usable lowest powers. The Seacam and Apollo III in M Mode have an enormous drawback in that their lowest powers are far too bright for many occasions when trying to balance ambient light.

Light Quality (Evenness and Falloff)⁴

I guarantee there is going to be controversy about the light quality assessments here, as people are used to judging light quality by looking at images. I decided to avoid my psychological biases and judged using a more measurable and repeatable method. I judged light quality by looking at the amount of falloff- not only between the center and the outer edge, but also the midway and outer edge. This gives you an idea of the eveness of light, which counteracts hotspots on sharks and ensures the widest coverage out to a 120 degree beam angle.⁵

1. Seacam 160D and Retra Pro Max 2 (even illumination with smooth falloff)
2. Retra Maxi (quite close to the other Retra and Seacam)
3. Apollo III 2.0 (Much faster light falloff)

You can see that the Seacam 160D and Retra Pro Max 2 have incredibly even illumination and very little falloff, with the Seacam apparently having a slightly wider beam. This is easiest done when looking at the Percentage-Of-Center numbers. You can see how the difference in value from Point 1 to Point 2 to Point 3 to Point 4 is quite gradual without much loss of brightness.

I was surprised how even and smooth the Retra Maxi’s light quality was- just a little more falloff than the Retra Pro Max 2, which is touted as superior to the Maxi for its light eveness.⁶ However, all three of those strobes have excellent light quality and evenness.

I was equally surprised to find that the Apollo has pretty bad light falloff. For most cases you simply wouldn’t use the Apollo without the diffuser, especially in fast-shooting scenarios where the continuous burst rate is the point, as there is little opportunity to fine-tune lighting in those situations. Look below if you want to see the improvement in falloff with diffusers on- noticeable but still not great.

Color Temperature

It should be fairly obvious that the color temperatures of the strobes are basically in two ranges- around 4500K and around 6000K. The Maxi and Apollo stands out as having the coolest color temperature, something that I would warm up for green cold waters with a diffuser. Not a problem given that green waters are never all that bright, even just below the surface. The Apollo III has a bit of inconsistency in color temperature but it is minor. Overall they are all pretty good.

High Speed Continuous Shooting Part 1

Okay, this is the part you’ve all been waiting. Welcome to my parlor, said the… Right, ahem, back to the testing.

I began my tests by choosing a burst rate of 8 fps, for 12 consecutive frames for one and a half seconds. While a 12 fps rate would be even better, attempting to go any higher than 8 at high power is unrealistic for now. As someone never said, “Don’t ask a unicorn to pull your plow”.

Oh and a note on strobe powers- I started at MAX POWER and then went down by single marked notches, which may or may not be about a half stop each time.⁷ So at MAX POWER it’s 0, one notch down it’s -1, two notches down it’s -2. I also noted what’s written on the actual strobe itself as their power notation.

Test Results

Max Power Continuous Firing, Seacam and Retra: The Seacam and Retra simply cannot sustain continuous firing at their highest power settings. At 8 fps, they miss frames entirely, and when they do manage to fire successive shots, the power output plummets, cutting the light by several stops quickly.

-3 Power Continuous Firing, Seacam and Retra Pro Max 2: The Seacam and Retra are only capable of sustained continuous firing at 8 frames per second (fps) when the power is dropped significantly, 3 notches below max power. Even at this low setting, the power level still falls precipitously during the burst. For example, the Seacam’s brightness drops sharply from 24 to 6, and the Retra Pro Max’s falls from 62 to 16.

Continuous Firing, Apollo III and Retra Maxi: The Apollo has a special Continuous Firing (MTL) mode. Although the MTL mode drops the output about two stops (aka 1/4 max power) (matching the Seacam at 1/4 power and Retra Pro Max 2 at 1.5 stops from max, labeled +2.5), the performance is exceptional.

When firing at 8 frames per second, the Apollo successfully illuminates every single frame. In MTL, at max power, there is a power drop, which is noticeable. It essentially drops one stop within 8 frames. Its power drop over the sequence is dramatically less than the competitors. Moreover, at half the MTL mode’s 1/2 power, the Apollo virtually maintains consistent brightness through 8 complete frames and continues shooting with minimal power loss.

But there is a surprise. When testing the Retra Maxi at lower powers, it actually starts to keep up with the amazing performance of the Apollo III. WAIT… WHAT.

Ok, we have crossed into strange territory. Not only does the Apollo have incredible continuous firing abilities that we have never seen before in an underwater strobe, but now it seems the Retra Maxi may as well. I wanted to test this further, so I started again with a new series of tests comparing just the Apollo III to the Maxi.

High Speed Continuous Shooting Part 2

New tests for 18 continuous frames⁸. This time, I decided to do a more realistic test. 6fps but for 3 seconds, so 18 total frames. This is a good representation of how we shoot underwater, if say an animal is quickly passing by, but also over a sustained few seconds. Like a shark buzzing the tower or a sea lion lunging at the camera.

To make the test between the Apollo III and Retra Maxi as close as possible, I put a diffuser on the Apollo III, since it definitely needs one for most shooting situations.⁹ Without the diffuser you gain 2/3 stop, so the Apollo does gain an advantage, but the light beam coverage is greatly reduced.

Now ain’t this a surprise. When the playing field is leveled, the Retra Maxi and the Apollo III 2.0 basically have the same power maximum output over all 18 frames. The Apollo III 2.0 has a slight edge, about a third of a stop, from my flashmeter measurements. But the Retra Maxi, which is not marketed as a fast continuous shooting strobe at all, is actually a heavyweight contender. And, I might add, the light quality of the Retra Maxi is far superior (see above).

So in order to use the Retra Maxi for continuous shooting, just use it at power level -6 (labeled +1 on the Maxi) or lower, and it will keep up. That’s it.

Ergonomics and Usability

Apollo III 2.0 Ergonomics, or Lack Thereof

Bad news. Let’s talk first about the Apollo III 2.0 and its wierd design choices. Alas, it is highly disappointing that in 2026, the Apollo III 2.0 basically fails on usability and ergonomics. The 80s called and asked for their strobe back. Seriously though, ridiculous design choices hinder operation:

Fiber Optic Port

The design of the fiber optic port is placed low, recessed into the rear panel, and positioned awkwardly on the right side.

This recessed port leaves only a narrow, 90-degree space for the cable plug. As a result, your fiber optic cable is forced to bend at least 90 degrees just to connect, even if you carefully route the cable with ties from the strobe arm above. The result is, on the right side the cable creates a huge loop to snag eelgrass, hands and regulators (gasp). Why on earth the designers created a port that forces fragile optical cables into such tight, willy-nilly bends is absolutely beyond me.

Power Dial/Knob

The power control is usable but determining the power level is difficult:

• Lack of Readability: There is no display LED. The etched power level numbers are tiny and impossible to read, even topside in good light, let alone underwater.
• Ambiguous Pointer: The dial has a line on its axis meant to be a pointer, but you cannot tell which end is indicating the setting. Workaround: Use a paint marker to mark the pointer side of the knob.
• Lack of Precision: Since most useful power levels are within a quarter turn of the knob, it is impossible to precisely identify the power level. This is a huge bummer for those of us that fine-tune the strobe power of left and right strobes so that the light is not just the same on both sides, aka lighting the picture.
• Poor Tactile Feedback: The power dials lacks positive tactile feedback. It is difficult or impossible to discern a small turn (e.g., an eighth or a quarter turn) by feel with gloves on.

Mode Dial/Knob

The mode selection is equally bad in a completely different way:

• Misplaced Indicators: The mode indicators (labels) are written on a completely different side of the strobe than the knob itself, using lines that wrap around the body to connect them.
• Reliance on Clicks: The only practical way to change modes is by memorizing click counts. For instance, it’s two clicks clockwise from ‘Off’ for Manual (M) mode, and turning the dial all the way for MTL mode. Using HSS or TTL requires guesswork when you can’t feel the clicks through gloves.

Focus Light Control

The focus light is activated by pressing the mode knob inward like a button. This action feels strange and is basically impossible to do without holding the strobe with your other hand. I am usually busy holding, oh I don’t know, THE CAMERA when I am underwater.

Retra & Seacam Ergonomics, or This Is How You Do It

I barely have to write anything about the difference between ergonomics of the Retra Maxi and Apollo III 2.0. Just look at the dang picture. The Maxi is incredibly well laid out, with controls that give great tactile feedback and are easy to read. The focus light button is easy to press one-handed. The fiber optic port is in a great, central location that is the same no matter which strobe arm it’s on. Who knew it could be done?

Also, a shoutout to the Seacam, with the best ergonomics of all. The knobs are clearly differentiated in size, the display is huge and easy to read, the battery door is terrific.

Lithium Ion Batteries for the Win

This is the magic sauce. The fact that both the Retra Maxi and Apollo III 2.0 use high discharge (20 amp) lithium ion batteries is what makes it possible for both to shoot so fast and so reliably. And changing batteries is quick, not like the 8 battery jamboree that is the Retra Pro Max 2.

I hate changing 8 batteries per strobe and getting them in the right orientations, both in the strobe and in the charger. It’s minor, but in the field or on the deck of a boat, as is often the case on assignment, it is a complete mess. The less batteries to deal with the better. The Seacam 160D has the easiest battery door to use, which I love. I wish the other manufacturers would take note of that.

The Retra Maxi takes 2x 21700 High Discharge Batteries, from Nitecore. The Apollo III 2.0 takes 3x 18700 High Discharge Batteries, from either Marelux (much cheaper) or Nitecore. Either way I am glad that this where things are going.

Now I know that people are one side or the other on lithium vs nickel metal hydride batteries, as far as travel restrictions, backups and safety. As a professional photographer who always travels with drone batteries and topside strobe batteries, I don’t find adding lithium strobe batteries to be much of a big deal at all. Out of 17 assignments for National Geographic around the globe, the only country that I have ever had issues with is New Zealand, and batteries there are not the issue, but rather carryon weight. For liveaboards, the solution is also simple- carry a lithium ion battery bag that is burnproof. Charge lithiums inside the bag and outdoors.

Conclusion- The Retra Maxi Rocks Hard

I was genuinely surprised about the results of all this testing. I went back and ran some tests again, using the other strobes in the pairs. But the same results occurred. In the end, I believe my eyes and the brightness values were very helpful (thank you Photoshop scripts). In fact, I don’t know that I have ever seen this kind of quantitative analysis in an underwater strobe review. Sure seems useful, wink wink nudge nudge.

Right. Anyway, the verdict is a no-brainer. The Retra Maxi is one of the brightest, smoothest, lights you can shoot underwater (that I have tested, anyway). It can fire away continuously, quite fast, at 6fps for 3 full seconds, at about 2 stops below the maximum power output of the Seacam 160D, which not long ago was the most powerful underwater strobe of all. Wow. Oh, and did I mention that the Maxi has a video light version that outputs 6000 lumens? Yeah, it even moonlights.¹⁰

Yes the Apollo slightly out-classes the Maxi for highest continuous shooting power, by 1/3 stop (or 1 full stop if you remove the diffuser, so that’s something). But that is at the cost of ridiculous ergonomics and poor light quality. The Maxi wins by a longshot.

Now, if you are looking for a great strobe and don’t need high-power continuous shooting, then the Seacam and Retra Pro Max 2 will do nicely as well. But I’ll probably sell everything except the Maxis at some outrageously low price and with the money I can treat myself to… a fancy new snorkel.

Footnotes

1. Leopard seals are quick. I am quicker. Allegedly. ↩︎
2. Over an area of 31×31 pixels, averaged. ↩︎
3. There were some wierd things about using the flashmeter, including that it would sometimes register pre or post flashes that would throw off the reading. Also, the very first image at a fresh power level does not record the exposure value- it doesn’t show until at least the strobe fires once. I made sure to record in my notes the correct exposure value, sometimes testing several times. There were some oddities- the Seacam would not register on the flashmeter at all- why is beyond me. ↩︎
4. My Nikon Z8, at 1/200, usually gives a slight black banding at the top each frame. I rarely ever notice this in real usage, so I just roll with it. ↩︎
5. After a message from Oskar from Retra on testing methodology, I re-did the light quality comparison by only comparing shots where all central brightness values all about the same. It was difficult to get precisely the same central power numbers, but they pretty close. The falloff values don’t vary much between power levels within one f-stop or so. This is also why I use percentage-of-center falloff numbers rather than brightness values. ↩︎
6. I hear that some people still think the Pro Max 2 has superior light quality, but I don’t really see it except for color temperature. ↩︎
7. Don’t ask me, the manufacturers say don’t assume it’s actually a fixed increment. ↩︎
8. Note that I increased the brightness of these frames by 2.5 stops in Lightroom to have a greater degree of precision, so don’t compare the frames in the 6fps section to the frame in the 8fps section ↩︎
9. See light quality analysis above. ↩︎
10. See what I did there, I made you look at the footnotes. ↩︎

December 12, 2025

The First Guardians of Life Book Has Arrived!

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 0 Comments

I am amazed to see the first printed copy of my new book, Guardians of Life: Indigenous Science, Indigenous Wisdom, and Restoring the Planet. This one was a prototype, being hand-stitched, but it’s the final printing and it looks amazing. Everyone (aka everyone at the publisher Braided River) is over the moon to see it.

The official launch date, when the final copies will be shipped, is February 15, 2026.

>> PRE-ORDERS ARE OPEN!

This project started 8 years ago, became an entire issue of National Geographic Magazine, and now is a book. And I must say the book version is by far the best one, with the writing of over two dozen Indigenous contributors!

Guardians of Life: Indigenous Science, Indigenous Wisdom and Restoring the Planet, takes readers on an extraordinary visual odyssey—from the Amazon rainforest to Greenland’s sea ice—revealing Indigenous communities as Earth’s most powerful protectors.

This stunning volume, published by Braided River, is powered by the collective wisdom of more than two dozen Indigenous voices, including activist Quannah Chasinghorse and Palauan statesman Tommy Remengesau Jr. Their expertise is brought forward through National Geographic photojournalist Kiliii Yüyan’s striking imagery, the editorial mastery of bestselling author (1491) Charles Mann, and writer Gleb Raygorodetsky’s insights.

Together, this collection of powerful images and stories proves how traditional knowledge and modern innovation unite to safeguard the planet. Witness profound stewardship in action: from Mongolia’s sacred peaks to Palau’s coral reefs, where ancient wisdom drives cutting-edge conservation.

>> PRE-ORDERS

Ulensi, big love to you all, and happy holidays.

May 9, 2024

The Noun Project’s Top Photographers

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 0 Comments

The Noun Project has put together a list of the top photographers working in 2024, and they did an insightful interview and writeup that collects my thoughts on the why and how of good documentary photography.

“My greatest lesson is to trust in the process. You build a good process, a way of working, and you have faith that it will pull you through.

You cannot cut corners, get impatient or try to get away without asking permission to do things. You just have to be there when the right time happens and be ready. That takes time, and the greatest gift to myself as a photographer is to give myself enough time.”

From the Noun Project’s interview with Kiliii Yuyan

December 18, 2023

‘Life On Thin Ice’ with NatGeo Live!

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 1 Comment

Hello friends! I’m on a speaking tour for National Geographic Live in 2024, across the US and Canada! The show is called Life on Thin Ice. And the opening of the entire series was in Seattle at Benaroya Hall! Then it goes to Los Angeles, Phoenix/Mesa, Buffalo, West Palm Beach, Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver.

In the Arctic, sea ice is synonymous with the sand in the desert. The ice is vital for transportation, for food, for living. And while the temperatures seem inhumane, the Arctic is teeming with life. Indigenous peoples call this frosty land home, but they’re not alone. Polar bears, musk ox, whales and caribou are some of the Arctic animals co-existing with more than 40 different ethnic groups in the north. Through beautiful images and awe-inspiring moments, National Geographic Live takes you on a journey with Kiliii Yüyan, our first speaker of Indigenous descent, to understand the Native peoples and their relationship to a frigid land and its animals.

The Seattle show went amazingly well, with three days of packed houses, and people leaving saying that their worldviews were changed. That’s the dream!

I am thankful for this and I hope it gives the wider US and Canada audience the opportunity to learn more about the reality behind life in the Arctic and especially the important role Indigenous peoples play through cultural stewardship of their place and communities.

I hope to see you there. Tickets for all the shows can be found here.

Show Dates:

• Jan 22-24: Seattle, WA
• Feb 1: Santa Monica, CA
• March 20: Mesa, AZ
• March 27: West Palm Beach, FL
• April 2: Buffalo, NY
• May 26-28: Calgary, AB
• June 2-4, Toronto, ON

January 9, 2023

The Eliza Scidmore Award for Outstanding Storytelling

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 0 Comments

I remember standing in the bright midday, hiding between a giant tin roof and an open concrete slab, sweating profusely into the humid air. My assistant Citlali and I were taking a moment of downtime on assignment for National Geographic, in a Cofan village in the Amazon basin, where we were on the barest edge of reception to the world outside the rainforest.

As I paced, swiping on my phone to the metallic slinky sounds of oropendula birds, an email came in from the Director of Storytelling at the National Geographic Society. I was surprised to read I was to receive the Eliza Scidmore award, a gargantuan honor from National Geographic, whose past winners include Lynsey Addario, Erika Larsen, and Lynn Johnson. They are all heroines of mine, whose works I have spent my entire photographic life drawing divine influence from. Thus I was immediately struck by strange despair- why on earth would I deserve an award like this?

My gut reaction was a self-denial of sorts. I had only just published my first feature story for National Geographic, while my inspirations had been known for their lifetimes of achievement.

I stewed under that hot tin roof for some time, then finally thought perhaps I would confide in Citlali and get out of my own head.

Citlali was a brilliant therapist. A few days earlier I had been talking with her about impostor syndrome, the idea that we don’t see ourselves the way we see our heroes. It’s an unconscious bias that we can only get away from through acknowledgement and healthy belief in our own value.

She turned that idea back on me, obviously, and I had to admit, given my long interest in cognitive psychology, that there was some possibility she was right. I was feeling like an impostor.

So I did a second, more detailed mental review of my creative life. It made me remember that while I’ve shot just a single magazine feature story, I’ve done six other stories for National Geographic. Making those stories required working for months in extreme environments from the Arctic to the Amazon, and I returning with stories that laid bare the lives of people in remote communities; I’ve been telling stories from a different perspective than the historical norm in journalism. Even so, there’s a battle in my moral consciousness that reminds me this is just routine work for a committed photojournalist.

Thinking on it now I can see that my discomfort with receiving the Eliza Scidmore award is to some extent thinking that awards are for the awarded. But awards are also as much for the community doing the awarding. It’s a community function, part of the system that keeps people striving for the things that the community values.

An award is an acknowledgement of trust– that someone trusts you enough to keep doing work that they value.

People say work is just a living, but it’s more personal for me. My work heals me, connects me with my ancestry and with the land. Like many artists, I don’t just choose to do my work. I am compelled to it. Documentary photography has made me broader and deeper as a human being, and what a gift that is.

At last, I hope that, if you’re reading this, you might come away just one idea that I’ve paraphrased from writer Annie Dillard.

Who we are, is what we spend our life doing.

Annie Dillard

If you’re a creative, then the greatest gift is to be able to do creative work and have it leave behind a greater good.

February 16, 2022

Indigenous Fire wins Zeke Award for Systemic Change

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 0 Comments

Excited and honored to announce that my story Indigenous Fire, on cultural burning as used by the Yurok and Karuk Nations of Northern California, has taken 1st place in the Zeke Award for Systemic Change. This year’s theme is Climate Change, and I really appreciate the prize was focused on solutions rather than just highlighting problems.

Each summer, headlines around the world shout about the seemingly apocalyptic wildfires raging across the American West. Despite the intense focus on the problem itself, scant attention is paid to solutions- including one particularly pragmatic solution to climate-change exacerbated wildfire. It’s at first non-intuitive– fire-lighting rather than fire-fighting– but it has proven to be an exceptional weapon against a seemingly impossible opponent on a landscape-level scale.

It’s known as cultural fire. People like Margo Robbins and Elizabeth Azzuz of the Indigenous Peoples’ Burn Network are training others in an ancient technique of ecological restoration, which is to safely light low-intensity fires in wet seasons that remove the small fuels on the forest floor. Not only does it effectively prevent wildfires from spreading, but it also performs a 13,000 year old function- the restoration of health of the forests of Northern California, the most diverse coniferous forests on earth.

from Indigenous Fire

The other awardees had terrific stories highlighting different solutions to climate, from underwater agriculture to sea turtle rescue. You can find the full list here.

July 28, 2021

Frequently asked Questions

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 1 Comment

How do I become a photographer for National Geographic?

This is the most common question that any photographer for National Geographic gets, and I think it’s because the myriad paths to becoming a successful documentary photographer are rarely spoken about. Every single photographer making photos for the Geographic goes through a complicated journey in their life and career, and it’s unique to every person. What is certain is that there is no straightforward way to get there. Most photographers at NatGeo began having expertise in other fields, such as in marine biology, environmental justice, or medicine. Many are accomplished with specialized technical skills, such as cave diving, fluency in languages like Arabic, or macro studio lighting. Other have unique abilities to deeply access worlds that the rest of us do not, such as inside the military, Arctic Indigenous communities, or the homeless. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that every photographer at the Geographic can do something that no-one else in the world can do, and present it from a unique perspective that noone else can offer.

My best advice to an aspiring National Geographic photographer is this:

• Become an expert in something that truly speaks to you, and do not just focus on photography.
• Create photographic stories/projects, not just single images, that noone else has ever seen before. That does not mean it has never been covered, but that the images show us something we have never seen.
• Expect to be a working photographer for at least several years before working for National Geographic.
• Master less common technical skills, such as strobe lighting, astrophotography, or aerial work.
• Do work that you love, and build entire photographic stories even if you have to do it on your dime. It’s very difficult to get hired to do work that you haven’t done before.

What is it like working for National Geographic?

Being a photographer for National Geographic is a dream job for many. But that doesn’t mean it is nearly as glamorous in reality as it seems, and it is not a life that suits everyone. Here are some of the less amazing things that are part of the lifestyle.

• I often have so little time on assignment or am in such remote places to eat that I end up eating terrible food. I often have to live on fast food, Spam and crackers, or on the opposite end, on whale blubber and frozen whitefish (which I love but is not for everyone).
• It is hard to stay in shape. I often do not get a chance to workout at all during assignments, and staying in shape is critical for the job. At the same time I often have to do physically demanding tasks when I’m in less good shape, such as steep hiking in 100 degree heat carrying 40# of gear, or freediving in freezing glacial lakes when I don’t have the proper wetsuit for the temperature. We also don’t get enough sleep.
• The pressure to create excellent work can be exhausting. Our editors care deeply about us, but ultimately we have to come home with amazing work every single time, regardless of the excuses.
• We rarely see home or have much of a personal life. In many years I am only home about 90 combined days in a year, and this is common among NatGeo photographers, especially early career. This can make it difficult or impossible to have a family, to keep relationships healthy, and keep your mental health in good shape.
• I don’t make that much money. The days of enormous budgets and sponsorships by Rolex are long gone. Today top working photojournalists make enough money to survive, but here in Seattle, my income is in just the 50th percentile. A big part of our payment is the enjoyment of the work we do.
• We are all freelancers. Every photographer for the Geographic is a contract freelancer. That means each assignment is potentially our last, so there’s not the sense of stability that salaried jobs can give. We buy our own health insurance and have to manage our businesses and do our own taxes. It’s not for everyone.

Here’s some of the wonderful parts of being of the job.

• I experience and see things that I never would have without being a photographer. For example, I never would have started diving, and now I routinely spend time in the kelp forest and occasionally get to play with seals underwater.
• I meet amazing people that give me deep insights into culture and life that I never would have otherwise.
• I get to educate people about issues that I care deeply about. In my case, the issues and stories of Indigenous communities, Asian American communities, the Arctic and wildlife are things that I feel a level of responsibility for, and am so happy when I can tell the stories properly. Sometimes our stories even result in policy change, and that is deeply satisfying.
• I get to go on adventures and travel regularly. This is, of course, the main thing that most people think of when they think of photography for National Geographic, and it’s true. But if it’s your only goal, there are much easier and simpler ways to go about doing it.

I love my work, and in many ways, it is what makes me who I am. But the sacrifices are real, and although we can mitigate them to some degree, they will always be there. Would I change it given the opportunity? Not a chance.

July 14, 2021

Shortlist for Leica Oskar Barnard Award

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 1 Comment

I am excited to announce my fine-art documentary series, Rumors of Arctic Belonging, has been shortlisted for the Leica Oskar Barnard Award!

The Arctic is changing radically. In his impressive series, the American photographer Kiliii Yüyan (born 1979) offers insight into the fascinating imagery of the North. Both the icebergs and the local population are disappearing; within a couple of decades a future Arctic awaits – not cold and unchanging, but living, dying and being reborn.

Leica Oskar Barnard Award, 2021

The award has been around for a long time and is one of the more prestigious awards in photography, covering documentary of all types. Entrants are only nominated by photo editors and curators.

You can see the entire series on my website here. It was on exhibition at Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery, but due to the pandemic, had few visitors, so I’m happy to see that it’s getting some viewers now. The topic of who the Arctic belongs to, and who belongs to it – is seemingly innocuous – but an enormously deep topic that’s worth talking about in this era of reckoning with colonization worldwide.

May 7, 2021

On polar bears & fireflies with Outside, Creative Live Podcasts

Kiliii Yuyan Uncategorized 2 Comments

It’s been a busy month for me, revving into 2021 with a bevy of podcast appearances. First up is Outside Magazine’s excellent podcast, where I get into the details of a polar bear attack and what it’s like to experience that as a photographer in a new environment (the sea ice) for the first time. There’s an excerpt above, and you can listen to the entire episode here.

Next up is my talk with Creative Live’s We are Photographers podcast, which is an excellent survey of professional photographers and what they are dealing with in the world. I spoke with Kenna about the importance of bearing around different cultures, and how cultural bias can poison your photography and journalism. I also got into some talk about animism, or how fireflies are actually fairies. The video above has an excerpt about that. You can find the entire podcast here.