As a child and teenager, Tervuren photographer Lydia saw the town drastically change. “But I loved growing up with the beautiful park and forest, right on my doorstep. This place continues to inspire my work. I often photograph in nature here,” she tells Tervuren+.
After studying fine arts, Lydia went on to complete a master’s in photography. Most of her clients are from Tervuren or located between Brussels and Leuven.
And as more of a fine art photographer, rather than a commercial one, Lydia’s own journey into parenthood led her to capture the experiences of others — all the raw, real and beautiful moments.
“Birth and motherhood means capturing something very raw and real in form. As a woman, you’re often not at your most glamorous when you’ve given birth. But you’re still very beautiful and creating life.”
“Some women love capturing the actual birth. And some prefer to keep the privacy around it. That’s fair enough. The pictures are for you to remember and look back on.”
Warning bell on image overload and AI
Lydia also sounds a warning bell on image overload and upcoming AI. “We’re so overwhelmed with imagery. We’re not actually meant to process this much in such a short amount of time,” she says.
“When you’re a photographer, with a big chunky camera as opposed to an iPhone, you’re forced to slow down and actually look at what you’re photographing.”
And with image overload, keeping those special photos becomes more of a responsibility. “Store them, back them up. I would say print the photos because I don’t think we do not do that enough anymore.”
AI is also ever more present in that imagery overload. “I’ve seen already so many advertisements where the image is AI. It looks like a photograph, but it’s not. I can still tell. But there will come a time when we won’t be able to,” she says.
But what’s wrong with AI? “AI people always look really nice, smiling, very happy and in good shape. But they’re not real,” she warns.
Lydia’s is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lyvaphoto and her website is at https://lyvaphoto.com
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