Living on a semi-rural, heavily forested island, I experience each season intimately without the
filter of modern urban life. Every day is a unit of time measured in the changing character of
light, reminding me it is good to be alive. Winter is full of mysteries tucked away in the woods
—places that inspire the telling of fairy tales.
Here, nature is rich and evocative, imbued with a special green air and moist breath. The light
is low and often foggy, but the outdoors is intensely alive. Below-ground plant matter
regenerates its strength for the spring eruption of baby green, pink, and yellow hues. Winter is
neither sad nor dour despite the low light. It is expectant.
I memorize these moments in photos when time is the solitary ticking of my heart, the dripdrip
of rainwater from a gutter, the pause between breaths.
Yasmine Rafii
I was born in Tehran, Iran, and emigrated to the U.S. in time for high school. My academic
background includes studying painting at the California College of Arts and exhibiting in small
group shows in the Bay Area as I finished my graduate studies in clinical psychology and art
therapy. After a decade working in the business world, I returned to the arts and started a
company writing and illustrating greeting cards. I self-published under the title Y Art Works.
Around the same time, UNICEF commissioned three different series of small paintings for
their line of notecards; Digital Stock, one of the earliest publishers of digital imagery,
commissioned work for a CD of painterly effects called Conceptual Backgrounds; and I landed
my first design client. I began working with a camera about 10 years ago, keeping a daily
visual diary focused on my immediate environment, the subtleties of light, and intimate
moments of ordinary life.
www.yasminerafii.com
@yasmine.rafii
All about Yasmine Rafii
