“PORCHTRAITS” Series
Puzzles. Hand sanitizer. Masks. Take-out food. Movie marathons.
This is what our world looks like now. Staying at home with our loved ones watching the news to stay informed, disinfecting groceries, washing our hands over and over again… This is COVID-19. Although some people have been hit harder by the coronavirus’ effects than others, every person on our planet has been influenced somehow by this deadly pandemic. Everyone is facing their own struggles, getting laid-off, coming home from college, cancelling vacations, and not getting to walk across the graduation stage. As we are all collectively struggling, we are all collectively learning. Learning how to check in on friends and family. How to properly wash our hands. How the world can be such a better place when we come together as one human race.
I decided to create a series that embodies the emotional turmoil of what it is like to be living in 2020. Everyone has seen photos of the empty shelves, the long Costco lines of shopping carts, and children learning through Zoom meetings. I wanted the idea of family to be the core of my series. Many photographers across the nation are running with the idea of taking portraits of families, oftentimes in color and full of forced-smiles, other times in masks and wearing gloves. While both representations of families are important, I chose to take a more direct approach.
People are scared. People are concerned.
And that is exactly what I chose to depict throughout this series. It did not take much directing to have people express the emotions evident through these photos. The instinctual smiles were replaced by reaffirming touch from mother to daughters and spouse to spouse. I asked these families to dress up to help portray the look of old studio-type daguerreotype photographs, as well as giving them an excuse to get out of the sweatpants we all find ourselves pulling on each morning.
This series was partially inspired by some of the first photographers we looked at in this class. Family portraits, and the way that the depth of field provided a wide angle of perspective into the standing person’s life, telling a story about them without any story.
PhotoChronologies 