In an age when everyone seems to have their phone out at every imaginable event, Sky Yang still envisions a need for real photographers to capture the moment.
Yang is the founder of SnapMatePhoto, a Seattle-based digital marketplace connecting customers with photographers for graduation portraits, weddings, maternity shoots, and more.
An amateur photographer himself, Yang created his idea while a senior at the University of Washington. Friends kept asking him to take their graduation photos, and even offered to pay him for his services. He realized there were limited resources online for people to easily find an affordable photographer.
“A lot of people couldn’t afford a professional photographer, but I think they still deserve a nice graduation photo — because that’s an important moment in their life,” Yang said.
Yang started building the website while still at UW, initially focused on connecting students with student photographers looking to build their portfolios. The startup got into the UW’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship accelerator program.
Yang, who is originally from China and majored in economics with a minor in business, has since graduated and now works in logistics operations at Amazon. SnapMatePhoto launched last October and now lists more than 120 photographers in the Seattle area.
Photographers on the platform list their specialties, portfolio images, and rates — ranging from $35 to $700 — and customers can browse and book directly through the site. SnapMatePhoto handles payments through Stripe, charging roughly 15% from photographers and 11% from clients.
Yang sees the rise of AI-generated imagery as validation for his business, not a threat. He said he briefly experimented with AI-generated videos to promote SnapMatePhoto early on, but pulled them down within a couple of weeks after backlash from both photographers and customers, who called it AI slop.
“The real image, the real human connection is only going to be more and more important in this AI age,” Yang said.
The company is bootstrapped, with Yang raising a small amount from friends. Revenue has grown quickly — from roughly $3,500 in its first month to nearly $7,500 in May. Yang said the company is reinvesting heavily in marketing and advertising and is not yet profitable.
Yang mentions competitors in the space including Snappr and Flytographer, as well as Airbnb. The short-term property rental platform offers a photographer marketplace under its varied services, which Yang sees as another validation for what he’s building.
SnapMatePhoto operates with a small team — Yang, one developer, one designer, and a handful of UW interns focused on photographer acquisition and influencer outreach. Mentors with the Buerk Center accelerator advised Yang to focus on Seattle before expanding too soon, but he does have his eye on California.
For now, Yang is leaning into the grind of building a startup while working long days at Amazon, but he says the hard work genuinely makes him happy.
“Yesterday I was reviewing a photographer’s work for a wedding, and I see all the moments from the beginning to the end — the whole ceremony just brought me a lot of joy,” he said.
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