October 26, 2023, 5:00pm-6:15pm: Becca Segovia (Royalty Now Studios), “Royalty Now: Bringing the Past Back to Life.” Click for Recording
With a BFA in Graphic Design, Becca Segovia has over 10 years of experience in the design field. Her skills range from corporate marketing collateral to Photoshop retouching and photocompositing.
THE HISTORY OF ROYALTY NOW
“Similar to many people, I’m so intrigued by history, yet always felt separated from the figures. I always thought of history more like a movie than a series of real events. I’d seen people all over the internet creating similar images – colorized Roman statues, colorized photos; and I wanted to give it a shot. A favorite figure of mine is Anne Boleyn. For my first ever creation, I decided to give Anne a modern “upgrade” – hair that could break free from her headdress, a bit of makeup, a modern dress, and all of a sudden she looked lifelike. She looked like someone who could stand right in front of me and tell me her story from her own lips, instead of someone who is at the mercy of historians and Hollywood producers.
I started a tiny Instagram account to share my work in early 2018. Thanks to some well-timed tweets by a journalist, my work suddenly got picked up by the general public, and the popularity of the images skyrocketed. Since 2018 I’ve modernized over 100 portraits of past figures, from ancient history favorites to almost-modern-day figures like Abraham Lincoln. My work has been featured in websites and newspapers around the world, and I’m so lucky to have such an eager and supportive audience.
I create these images so we can learn about the past with a little more empathy for the figures involved. It seems to strike people somewhere visceral to look into the more relatable eyes of the famous figures we know and love.”
