Bermuda knows her as a model, but Lillian Lightbourn is proving she’s just as confident behind the lens. Inspired by a lifelong family love of preserving memories that she traces back to her late father, Charles Gibson, and her late mother, Garrowlyn Lightbourn, she’s now shaping her own body of work. Last month, she was part of Femme Foto, a group exhibit in New York City’s Lower East Side.

Q: In your Instagram post announcing the show, you mentioned how your family has always loved capturing moments. Can you tell me more about that?

A: On my dad's side too, but mostly on my mom's side, we have a bajillion photo albums that I remember always looking through as a kid. Especially as someone that lost their mom really young, sometimes that's something you cling to because you want to have [those] memories. We kind of lost track of [the albums] and then during Covid, I came across them again. It felt so good to see pictures of my family and that just made me realise how important it is to [have them].

Q: How old were you when your mom passed?

A: I was eight. She always knew that I liked art. I remember just always drawing pictures, and her drawing a picture of me.

Q: So she was artistic also?

A: It’s funny because as a kid, you maybe romanticise things in your head about your parents. So I say she was an artist but she could have not been. It’s just how I remember her. She drew me with a pen. When I look back at that picture today, it's really not that great, but I felt like she was a great artist. I was so impressed with it and I’m so grateful for memories like that.

Q: You’ve been featured in Elle and Vogue and advertisements for Sephora, Vivienne Westwood and Maybelline, what made you decide to get behind the camera?

A: I think it was a gradual thing. I've always been interested in photography. My dad and my stepmom [Glenda Gibson] bought my twin sister [Charlie] and I one of those small point and shoot digital cameras that everyone had in the 2000s and I was always taking pictures with it. And when I'm on set modelling, I've always asked the photographers questions. I've always been curious — when you shoot with some of the best people in the industry, I'm always going to take notes. I'm not just going to be there on my phone. I'm always going to try to interact and see what's going on because the best way to learn is from experience and being around people. So I'm modelling, but I'm also shadowing you. I still have a lot to learn. I'm self-taught, but during Covid I just decided to pick up a camera that I bought when I was 12 or 15. I wasn't really doing anything with it because modelling can take up a lot of your time, but Covid slowed everyone down. I loved it. It was so rewarding. It was the creative outlet that I’d been looking for.

Q: What moved your photography forward?

A: I had brain surgery last year. After I finished my recovery, I was feeling stuck a little bit, because I had missed out on a lot during the surgery time. Jumping back to photography right after helped a lot and that photo that’s in that exhibit was one of the photos I took post recovery. And one of the reasons why it’s so important to me is because of part of the reason why I needed brain surgery — I had a cyst that was pushing against my optic nerve to my brain, and my vision was going a little bit blurry. And they said if they don’t operate, it could damage my vision. It meant a lot to have my vision [back to] 20/20 and I was able to shoot again.

Q: How did you become part of this show?

A: I follow the page Femme Foto because one of the founders was supposed to take my picture but we never got around to it. We met each other on set when I was shooting behind the scenes for something and then kind of just stayed in contact. She's been following my work along the way, and they posted that they were doing an exhibit. I didn't think to submit. I didn’t think I was ready, but she messaged me. I kind of went out on a whim and just picked some photos. And then they picked me.

Q: You’ve credited photography with helping you heal. How so?

A: When I lost my dad [in 2020], it kind of made me not want to model any more. I spent so much time travelling, I was away from my family and so it made me feel guilty for a bit. Photography was the way that I was healing myself. Every time I would do a photoshoot or assist on set, or someone hired me to take the pictures, it just felt so good. You know how you do something and all your stress and everything you're worried about, it just doesn't exist in that moment? That's how I feel with my photography.

Q: And you're still working as a model?

A: I'm more on the mentorship side, the development side, helping other models get into it. I’m part of the development team of a small mother agency, where I help shoot, develop and scout sometimes.

Q: So you’re putting all of your experience and your skills to work?

A: I know a lot of photographers struggle with how to tell people how to pose, how to bring out their emotions. And for me, it comes naturally, thankfully, because of that experience.

Q: Advice to anyone trying to break into the creative scene in New York City?

A: It’s finding the right community of people that will pour into you. People that don't gatekeep. Luckily I found a mentor that [feels that way and has told me] “What's for you is for you, and no one can take that from you.” I love finding people that will help. One thing that modelling and photography have taught me is that collaboration is the best thing you could ever do. Bringing the right team on, finding the right person — even if you feel like you're not the right photographer, maybe just think you need to assist and just watch but you have this great idea. It's always good to figure out where you can fit on a team, to just be in the room.

• Follow @lilylightbourn on Instagram