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Madeline Lienard: A French Family Photographer Guided by Light, Emotion and Confidence
For Madeline Lienard, when she reminisces about her very first experiences with photography, she will not talk about the studio, the business or the professional camera.
What comes up in her mind is the disposable camera and a small device she could connect to the family computer to finally discover the images she had taken. She remembers photographing her pets, her friends, and even her stuffed animals, creating little scenes before she fully understood that she was already telling stories.
There is one particular memory that always makes her smile. When she was about eight years old, during one of her class outings, Madeline constantly stopped to take photographs. She slowed down the entire group because she did not want to miss out on anything.
Nearly three decades have passed, but her natural ability to notice and capture special moments is still as strong as ever.
Currently, Madeline resides in Oudezeele, a charming village in northern France, where she is taking care of her two children and pursuing her career as a photographer. Her specialty is maternity, baby, and family photography, which allows her to document emotions and small details that matter.
“Capturing the moment to make it last forever” is the phrase that guides her business. For Madeline, it is more than a tagline. It reflects the way she views photography itself.
“Behind every image is a memory, an emotion, and a story that deserves to be preserved through the years,” she says.
A Childhood Shaped by Cameras and Small Stories
Madeline was born and brought up in Oye-Plage, which is less than 45 minutes away from the place where she now lives. These places play an important role not only in her life but also in the way she sees the concept of family, memories, and belonging.
Photography became a part of her life early on. Even before she became a professional, she used photos to keep everything around her close.
She took pictures of all the things that surrounded her, animals, people, toys, and other trivialities. Today, looking back, she sees how these simple childhood pictures had always been linked to her present style of work. They were not about perfection. They were about noticing.
The first childhood camera is still with her.
For Madeline, it is a precious reminder that photography was never just something she discovered later in life. It had always been part of her.
Building a Photography Path at Sixteen
At sixteen, Madeline began taking photography more seriously. This was her turning point, both creatively and personally.
For her to launch her own business at that tender age, she had to go through the process of emancipation whereby she appeared before a juvenile court judge at the age of fifteen-and-a-half. Through this process, she learned about how business is done in the real world.
This milestone also changed the whole purpose of her photography.
Before then, it was all about what she wanted to do and what she thought was right. But when she started to include families in her studio, she became part of other peoples’ memories. Now she was not just creating memories for herself anymore but for others as well.
“I learned to use my creativity and sensitivity in service of their memories, emotions, and stories,” she says.
Creating Family Memories with Care and Emotion
Madeline specializes in maternity, newborn, and family photo sessions. For her, these types of photoshoots are not just about taking beautiful pictures. These are memories for people which can be kept for many years: small details which could be important to them in the future, a tiny face of a newborn, his/her smile, hug or a look of his/her parents.
Working closely with babies and little kids, Madeline cares about their safety greatly. That is why she has undergone training in baby safety and hygiene and always prioritizes their health during the photo session. Although being professional, her work is not mechanical at all.
A sibling portrait photographed in Madeline's studio, where soft lighting, simple styling, and a dark textured backdrop keep the focus on the children's expressions and connection.
Madeline likes to take posed photos if they add softness and structure to the picture, but at the same time she carefully watches for those natural moments which happen after posing glances, smiles, hugs.
For Madeline, those in-between moments are often where the real feeling of a session lives.
Her goal is not to create artificial images or an unrealistic version of perfection. What she looks for most is authenticity: the tenderness, connection, and quiet emotion that already exist within a family.
“What I seek above all is authenticity,” she says.
Photography as a Place to Breathe
Over the years, photography has become much more than a profession for Madeline. It allows her to express emotions, create memories, and reconnect with herself in ways words cannot explain.
“Photography is my safe place, my oxygen,” she says.
At first, when she realized that she wanted to begin a photography career, Madeline was afraid that by making her passion more structured, she would make it less close to the art that she loves. On the contrary, photography brought her closer to her art than ever before.
No matter the struggles that came along, whether personal or professional, making images was what got her through. At times, Madeline would take photos using her camera. Other times, it would be her smartphone. Through photography, Madeline had found a way to speak without words.
A Style Guided by Light, Emotion, and Real Connection
Madeline describes her creative style as natural yet carefully crafted, always centered on emotion.
What she loves most about taking photos is those unplanned moments that come in between a sequence of poses, such as an action or a glance, a smile, or a connection that can never be planned.
Lighting is very important in her work. For Madeline, the importance of lighting in photography is something she has always believed in, and this is one of the first lessons that she teaches her interns. She teaches them the different types of lighting, their uses, and how to position the light so as to bring out the best in the individual without compromising who they really are.
That statement captures her philosophy in photography, where she concentrates on revealing the authentic individual, and at the same time, remains true to the image that she produces.
Through the natural quality of her pictures, she is meticulous in the use of lighting, composition, perspective, environment, and the movement of the individual being photographed. Her pictures have been shot both in the studio and in the outdoor garden.
The former relies on light, positioning, and selected backdrops in creating a tranquil visual image, whereas the latter utilizes nature in her picture-taking process, including an emotionally captured child photograph through the soft light of an octabox.
An emotional child portrait shaped by Madeline's careful use of octabox lighting, showing how light can carry feeling even in the simplest frame.
For Madeline, everything in the frame counts, as each element plays a role in completing the whole picture. It can be a backdrop that creates the right atmosphere for the photo. Light helps create the mood. However, the message is conveyed through the people in the picture.
“I love creating images that feel effortless while still revealing intentional artistic choices,” she says.
When Encouragement Arrived at the Right Time
Like many creative professionals, Madeline has experienced moments of doubt. Photography can be deeply rewarding, but creative work can also feel vulnerable. There are seasons when comparison, competition, and discouragement become difficult to carry.
For Madeline, one challenging period in her career left her questioning her work and wondering whether she still had a place in photography.
When the opportunity to collaborate with Kate Backdrop arose, she applied without much hope. At that time, she was feeling discouraged and unsure about her place in the industry. But the conversations she had with Kate's support team gave her encouragement at a moment when she needed it.
And then her photo got featured on the Kate website. This moment became much more to Madeline than just a collaboration.
A screenshot from Madeline's Instagram, where she shared the moment one of her portraits appeared on the Kate Backdrop website during a meaningful chapter in her photography journey.
“This collaboration became a light during a dark period,” she says. “It restored my confidence and reminded me that I was capable, talented, and that I still belonged in this profession.”
Kate Backdrop did not create Madeline’s talent. Her vision, sensitivity, and creative voice were already there. But sometimes, getting acknowledged is what helps an artist realize their worth.
Stepping Outside a Minimalist Comfort Zone
Before working with Kate, Madeline mostly used simple and minimalist backdrops. That style felt familiar and comfortable to her.
For her first collaboration, however, the Kate team selected a backdrop with a more elaborate setting. It was different from her usual creative approach, and at first, it pushed her beyond what felt familiar.
A child portrait from Madeline's first Kate collaboration, blending soft light, a styled studio background, and the quiet emotion she looks for in every session.
Madeline chose to treat it as an opportunity.
While most photographers see a backdrop as a constraint, for her it became an opportunity to immerse herself in a completely different visual world. The experience made her realize the need for exploring a new environment, atmosphere and narrative in her studio work.
Ultimately, this became an important creative discovery for her.
The process was so engaging that she decided to build up her collection of backdrops. It had an impact on her current work as an artist, reminding her that one can always explore new ways while preserving one’s own identity.
This experience opened her eyes to the fact that a backdrop is not only a necessity for completing the set but rather a powerful tool that can draw attention to expression and form and, what is more important, to atmosphere and narrative.
Behind the scenes in Madeline's studio, where lighting, posing, and a carefully chosen backdrop come together to shape a soft, child-centered portrait session.
Trying something different opened a new creative direction for her, while still allowing her to stay true to the emotional style that defines her work.
The Image That Connected Her to Kate
There’s one photograph that holds a very special place in Madeline’s journey with Kate.
This is a photo she captured using a Kate backdrop she had purchased second-hand through a photographer’s group. In the photograph, her partner appears shirtless, showing his tattoos, while her son is photographed from behind. The pose is simple, but the composition is carefully planned.
A deeply personal portrait of Madeline's partner and child, created with a Kate backdrop she found second-hand through a photographers' group.
What inspired Madeline was the “J'ai demandé à la lune” music video by Indochine, a special song to her. She wanted to recreate it through her interpretation and her artistry, using her family’s story to tell that story.
Looking back, she sees the image as a turning point.
It was the photograph that first connected her to the Kate universe and sparked her desire to collaborate with the brand. More importantly, it represented a more instinctive and personal approach to creating images.
In that photograph, the backdrop did not overpower the people in the frame. Instead, It helped create a visual world around them, giving the emotion a place to exist.
What Madeline Hopes People Feel
Above everything else, Madeline wants her pictures to be able to create emotions of tenderness, sincere feelings and reflect the reality of moments shared between people.
She also wishes for viewers to be able to feel the love behind each picture. Even if a picture may seem quite simple or just taken spontaneously, there is a reason behind the lighting, composition, the point of view, and the positioning of the subject in the frame.
This is what she looks for in photography: the emotion behind the moment, captured through the eye of the photographer.
This short video offers a look inside Madeline's creative process, showing how a backdrop, simple styling, and gentle posing become part of
a finished studio session.
The pictures that best convey her narrative are the pictures that combine these aspects: family pictures, significant glances, emotional moments, studio pictures with carefully arranged lighting and backdrop, and minimalistic pictures driven by emotions.
A Message for Other Creators
Madeline’s journey isn’t just the tale of before and after. It’s the story of having your love of creativity throughout your entire life, nurturing that love through tough times and letting it flourish in different ways.
For Madeline, the Kate Backdrop collaboration appeared right in the moment when she needed to feel that her work was meaningful to her once again. The project gave her confidence, pushed her out of her comfort zone, and showed her that development is inevitable in the life of any creator.
To close her story, Madeline wanted to share her gratitude.
She thanks her partner, her children, her family, her clients, and Kate for the trust and support they have given her.
But most of all, Madeline hopes that her story will encourage other artists to believe in themselves regardless of whatever doubts they may have.
“Nothing is ever truly fixed, and it is never too late to get back up, start again, or move closer to what genuinely makes you come alive,” she says.
About Madeline Lienard
Madeline Lienard is a maternity, newborn, and family photographer based in northern France. Her work is guided by light, emotion, authenticity, and the desire to preserve real human connection through photography.
Credit: Madeline Lienard
Instagram: @madeline.lienard
Facebook: Madeline Lienard - Photographe
Website: www.madeline-lienard.fr
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