We're back with our creative women series, and this week we're thrilled to feature Lavinia Cernau.
Lavinia is a travel, fashion and lifestyle photographer with a long lasting love for the Mediterranean. Her work which is regularly featured in Conde Nast Traveller, Nuvo Magazine and Vogue Paris has a specific emphasis on mundane moments suspended in time, bathed in a very unique golden, highly cinematic light. Her imagery is infused with a sense of nostalgic freedom and summer sensuality in scenes where her subjects feel honest and at ease.
The terrace at Palazzo Maresgallo
Tell us about your professional journey - highlights, learnings, mentors.
It's safe to say photography found me. I think I was still looking for my purpose, for my calling and it sort of slowly but steadily came to me. I began following photographers who work stirred something in me and little by little I started developing my vision and the world reacted to it. I love Bruce Webber, June Newton, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Tom Craig and Lachlan Bailey.
Describe your creative process
It's very intuitive, I let myself follow the light, guiding me to reveal the smallest details that make a scene feel cinematic, intimate, atmospheric. I absolutely love morning and crepuscular light - both so offering to my creative flow.
Morning light capture by Lavinia at home in Transylvania, Romania
Morning light capture by Lavinia at home in Transylvania, Romania
What are you working on right now, personally and professionally?
I cherish every day and find myself seeking silent moments more and more. I find they recharge me and put me on the right path - both professionally and personally; however these two intertwine closely as who I am as a person is very much reflected in my work. I strive to be better at what I do, better as a person and as an artist, to better understand the world around me and produce work that triggers emotion and feeling.
Favourite self care ritual/s to unwind?
I love a good face and neck massage with a little bit of pressure on key areas and my favourite music in the background.
Favourite travel experience/s?
Calabrian sunset overlooking Stromboli
What makes you feel most alive?
I absolutely loved it in Calabria, specifically the area of Tropea, this year - the pace of life has something to do with the slow life of an island. There was something magical about the sunset overlooking the active volcano of Stromboli from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Another beautiful experience was Bodrum, Turkey - the haven that is Amanruya is something unparalleled until now. Turkish food is so, so delicious.
Calabrian sunset overlooking Stromboli
What makes you feel most alive?
The breeze on my face on a summer morning, wet kisses from my cats, waking up to the sound of the sea.
Sun washed Puglia captured by Lavinia Cernau
What are you looking forward to?
Right now, I'm eager to spend some more time in nature - whether that's by the sea or in the countryside. That's actually a permanent state of mind for me, haha.
Grainy happiness - Red Sea, Egypt
Who or what is inspiring you right now?
I feel like inspiration is everywhere - as long as you pay attention and are connected to your own emotions and feelings: in a song, a person, a scene from a movie.
August moments caught on film by Lavinia at Rochechouart Hotel, Paris.
Summer is our favourite season, what’s a song, taste and place that reminds you of summer?
Song: Simply Red - Stars
Taste: Ripe figs
Place: The Mediterranean
Golden morning light at Palazzo Maresgallo
Golden morning light at Palazzo Maresgallo
Biggest take away from the year?
Live in the now. You can do whatever you set your mind to do.
