We all experience the innocence and joy of childhood, until it begins to slip away as we age.

In many ways, Lysette Rubega, is seeking to capture the various stages of childhood with images that celebrate beauty, family bonds, wonder and strength.

Although she loved pictures, Rubega never had any background or experience in photography. Her idea of promoting childhood photography started when she had her first child, three years ago.

Like any photographer father would do, her husband, a renowned photojournalist, Plaisir Muzogeye, ensured to take pictures of their child every month, in celebration. They soon captured the attention of friends and family who wanted the same for their children.

"My husband would sometimes volunteer to create these memories, but it had to be done professionally, and there weren’t any studios at the time specialising in childhood photography locally,” she says.

Love for children and photography inspires Rubega’s creativity. Photo: Courtesy

With her husband’s support, they set up Ikibondo Studio, a photography studio that specialses in capturing childhood memories, that is new-born, pregnancy, family, baptism and birthday photography.

"What I love most is helping clients preserve their own family memories through my portraits. In many cases I will meet a new family at the very start of their baby’s life and then get to watch that child and family grow through my lens during return visits.

"It is such an honour to be able to do this because in the first few years, there are many special moments and ‘firsts’ in your child’s life that you will want to remember for years to come. They will start to sit up, their first tooth pops through and they start to become independent through crawling and eventually pulling themselves up to walk. Reflecting the unique individual they are already becoming and capturing these unique times in their life and the story around them is what we love doing,” she says.

Shot in beautiful and coloured portraits, a tour around her photography studio shows the magical bond between childhood and innocence, and hugely framed beautiful portraits of her family.

Children photoshoots require a lot of patience to capture beautiful moments, but for the mother of two, this specific genre comes off easy because of the experience motherhood has given her with children.

Lysette Rubega used her motherhood experience and love for photography to set up a childhood studio.

As the creative director, Rubega’s love for photography and children’s fashion makes it easier for her to come up with beautiful photoshoot ideas.

"Being a mother who spends a lot of time with my children, it’s easy to come up with the creativity, knowing what backdrop works best with their attire, or how to keep them engaged. It’s automatic for me, but I also ensure to discuss with the parent on the final concept and work around their inspiration.

"Often, parents come to me with ideas they have seen on the internet and I have to remind them that what works for one may not work for the other. Together, we then come up with the right photoshoot ideas that suit the child’s personality,” she says.

As photography evolves with innovation, it comes at a cost in terms of purchasing equipment, a challenge for Rubega’s business.

"Also, some of our clients think we over charge them for our services and choose to rely on phone photography. But they do not understand the work that goes into the beautiful photoshoots they see on social media, the resolution of our equipment and creativity involved. It’s okay to use phone photography but your child deserves a couple of good professional photos for their memory,” she adds.

Bigger plans

‘Ikibondo’ is a Kinyarwanda pet name for child. As such, the 29-year-old’s two-year experience in the business has her mind crowded with innovative ideas for children. One of her plans, due to popular demand, is to start up Made in Rwanda branded shoes and clothes under the same brand.

Ikibondo studio was set up to capture all childhood memories.

Another is to partner with schools, documenting children from pre-primary till they complete primary level.

"Photography is key in mapping our history, without it we cannot look back to how far we have come. When the fleeting childhood years are over and children grow up surrounded by photographs, it gives them a richer understanding of where they come from. We want children to have these memories with them when they grow up and when they become famous, they can show the world where they came from,” she says with a hearty laugh.

"I also want to set up a website that stores photos,” she says, adding, "some people lose their photographs and we also do not have enough storage to keep all of our clients photos. Once we have this website, it’s easy to just store all of them for our clients