Like lots of people during lockdown I ran the gauntlet of all the emotions:
Isolated, despite being touched out by my two children at home, frustrated because I felt that I didn’t know what to do to help, anxious because it all seemed so overwhelming. So I made a commitment to myself very early on in lockdown that I was going to go out on my bike, twice a week for an hour as my exercise and offer people in my local area a socially distanced photo shoot on the doorstep. All done for free, as an act of community to try and raise peoples' spirits and meet some new people (from a distance!)
In the early days of lockdown, families would be slightly hysterical with chatter that I was the first person they had seen in days and I had so many wonderful, heartfelt messages from families and couples saying how much they appreciated the opportunity to have their photograph taken. It started off as a small project but by the summer I had taken photographs of over 130 families in my area and I’m so proud of myself for having the gritt and determination to get out there.
It did my mental health so much good and I’m very proud to have provided families with a small moment of excitement and happiness in a really scary time. One of the most fun things about the doorstep photographs was that lots and lots of the families said that they really enjoyed the opportunity to dress up and put on a bit of make up! As always, it’s really tricky to get all of you in the frame other than a wonky selfie! I love that with all of these photographs, you can see whole families cuddling together in one beautiful photograph.
One of the other big advantages for me in terms of personal development was that I only allowed myself a mere seven (!) minutes with every family and I wanted to make sure that I got a really good selection of photographs. Meeting a family for the first time, in lockdown when I can’t get very close to them and establish a rapport very very quickly is definitely a skill! The entire experience helped me to hone my prompts and chat so that I could get everyone really comfortable very quickly and really optimise the seven minutes that I had with each family. Something you will experience in a far more relaxed photo session with me when we have more time!
