LIFE IN COLOUR
Featuring Zoe Trotman, photography by Lubov Hysa, styling by Ana Zuravliova, makeup by Beauty by Liu.
Life in Colour is a bold rejection of winter’s monotony, bringing life to the season’s grey days with vivid hues. The green bows symbolise a fresh take on “Christmas red bow”, while the fiery orange captures the yearning for summer’s energy and heat. Together, these elements create a story of vibrancy and optimism, celebrating colour as a remedy for the winter blues.
For the December issue, Life in Colour photographer Lubov Hysa spoke to TYG about the editorial as well as her life and work as a photographer.
TYG: Hello Lubov. Tell us a bit about your background. Where did you grow up/study?
Lubov: I was born in Latvia region Latgale, in my teenage years moved to UK. My heart always belongs to vast Latgalian flower meadows, forests, sunsets, stargazing, hot summer days, snow filled winters, lakes and rivers, blossoms, peonies and lilac in my grandma’s garden (crying...) The happy vibrant childhood that in my 30s still warms my soul.
Started Doncaster College Photography course, spent hours and hours in darkroom, have been obsessed with 35mm Black & White shooting and printing. It has been so satisfying to me to be able to bring image what I capture to physical photo with being able to control whole of the process from pressing shutter button to taking out ready photo from the rinse tray.
After college I started Nottingham Trent University, during my course I focused on documentary photography, exploring on cultural belonging and travels. After graduating I have moved to different field, doing admin role at very busy multimillion auction selling heavy plant and machinery, working with customers from around the world. Position involved very fast paced environment, responsibility, multitasking, effective decision making and most important being part of the team. Experience gained at my previous role helped me massively to build who I am now and use those skills effectively while working in photography.
TYG: How did you become a photographer?
Lubov: My love for photography was there from early years, my late father was reportage photographer and he shot enormous amount of film events, weddings, funerals, family life. Most of the film is still kept at our home in Latvia. When I was a teen, my parents bought me DSLR, it was so cool then! I had fun experimenting and playing around with it by going with girls to photograph each and imagine we are models. After graduating I have decided photography isn’t something I wanted to do full time and kept it as a hobby. After becoming mother in 2020 I have spent lots of time outdoors with my little one, doing long walks with the pram, gazing the beauty of nature, appreciating texture, shades, colours, flowers, it all inspired me to pick up my camera again and start shooting. I did family, couple sessions, weddings. Soon, I started to get more paid work. It wasn’t until mid 2024 when I started working with models and style shoots. It has become a chance to be able to express myself. Photography, to me right now, represents freedom—the freedom to choose, to create, and to exist in a world without constraints.
TYG: Who or what were your early influences?
Lubov: In my school years I had the wish of becoming model so I was researching a lot, looking at top models back then. My favourite ones were Kate Moss, Natalia Vodianova, Candice Swanepoel. I was looking at BTS from magazine shoots, reading articles, looking at photographs of them from the greatest photographers like Mario Testino and Steven Meisel. All that world felt so unattainable, distant to me like it was different universe. At the time of college one of my favourite photographers was Annie Leibovitz and one of her works I liked the most “Alice in wonderland” with Natalia Vodianova. For black and white imagery photography I was inspired by Hungarian photographers Andre Kertesz works and his shadow photography.
TYG: How would you describe your photography style?
Lubov: I am still in the process of finding my distinct photography style, but I can say for sure I love to be maximalism in my work, having a lot going on in the photograph. In my work I like colours, expression, textures, styled outfits, angles, motion. My favourite is to work on a location as it offers different backdrop every time and having endless possibilities where to shoot and location can be matched models look, personality and of course the brief itself.
TYG: Where did the idea for the cover editorial come from?
Lubov: I always hated and avoided orange and purple colours in my photography, so I decided to challenge myself to direct and create a shoot that will look awesome and make me rethink how I feel about these colours. I immediately knew Zoe is the perfect model for this colour scheme, with her beautiful skin colour. While rebelling against seasons greyness, I brought this idea to life by collaborating with my friend stylist and amazing Liu makeup artist. One of my lives motos is “Old path isn’t going to take you to new destination.” Meaning you will not be able to achieve new without stepping out of the comfort zone and doing new.
This editorial is a bold rejection of winter’s monotony, bringing life to the season’s grey days with vivid hues. The green bows symbolise a fresh take on “Christmas red bow”, while the fiery orange captures the yearning for summer’s energy and heat. Together, these elements create a story of vibrancy and optimism, celebrating colour as a remedy for the winter blues.
TYG:Why did you pick this particular team for the editorial?
Lubov: We have planned a new collaboration with Zoe and we happened to have similar ideas for this shoot. I knew Ana stylist will be definitely up for it as she adores bold and fun shoots that require creativity involved. Liu is amazing makeup artist and with her attention to detail we knew we will get the best makeup look.
TYG: What was it like working with the team?
Lubov: I love working with the team and it is always fun. I especially value when everyone involved is truly passionate about what they do, communicate well with each other and add their touch and ideas as we go along on the day.
TYG: How did you create the setup?
Lubov: The set up was very straight forward, I am big fan of textile backdrops lately, I love the texture and the depth they provide on the image. For the orange set I clipped fabric from the other side to create that drape effect.
TYG: Do you have a favourite look/image from the photoshoot?
Lubov: My favourite image of this photoshoot is actually the cover photo, I love the angle, how the green tights create that long line parallel to the extended arm, I like how Zoe looks straight into the camera. Angles are something I love to play with and that is clearly displayed on this image.
TYG: What are your plans with your photography in 2025? Any concepts you'd like to try?
Lubov: I have talked about my love for nature and this is something I’d like to emphasize on in my studio work, by bringing nature into it and blending into portraits, styling.
Looking into 2025 I am planning to work a lot on location, creating live, vibrant imagery, more expression, more colours. I guess this comes from me being mom and living very demure lifestyle, I want to express myself and be brave through my work. But mostly I will be doing my best to stay consistent!
