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The Growth of Leaves

From a budding twig emerges a leaf, green and fragile, dancing in the sunlight. Within each blade lies magic: life growing, silent, wondrous, and ever-renewing.

Awards

Nature Photography Contest

2025

Honorable Mention

Pattern & Form

Non Professional

The Growth of Leaves

From a budding twig emerges a leaf, green and fragile, dancing in the sunlight. Within each blade lies magic: life growing, silent, wondrous, and ever-renewing.

About Artist

Mathieu V Vanderstichele

For over 25 years, I have stood behind the lens—not just to capture what I see, but to freeze what is felt. In a world that moves too fast, I use my camera to make people pause. To feel. To see. To remember. I have taken tens of thousands of photos, but the real magic? It lies in that one shot—where light and emotion collide, where a glance holds a lifetime, where the smallest detail becomes everything. Photography, to me, is not about perfection. It is about rawness. About moments that whisper instead of scream. About images that stay with you, long after you’ve looked away. I believe in the goodness of people, in the layers beneath the surface, in the stories that eyes tell but words never could. My lens does not judge—it listens. To love, to chaos, to silence, to everything that makes us human. Every frame I create carries a part of me—my doubts, my faith, my belief that undeniable beauty still exists in this world. And I hope that when you stand before one of my photographs, you do not just see it, but you feel it—in your bones, in your quiet moments, in the spaces between your thoughts. Because sometimes, all we need is to pause. To realize that beauty is not loud. It lives in the small things—a glance, a shadow, a moment of pure, unspoken truth. And if my work makes you stop, even for a second, then I have done what I was meant to do.

Mathieu V Vanderstichele

Photographic Areas of Focus

Abstract, Fine Art, Nature

Location

Belgium

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