#ThePorchProject

During the summer of 2020, among the infamous "Tik Tok" whipped iced coffee and YouTube home workouts, another trend arose, this time on Facebook.  

On one afternoon this summer, as I was aimlessly scrolling on the platform, I stumbled upon a local photographer's post asking anyone interested in taking part in "The Porch Project," to reach out at once. Intrigued, I gave the hashtag under the post a click and was immediately faced with thousands of photographers' images from across the U.S. The formatting of the portraits was typically similar across the board, with varying levels of humor and intricacy present among the posts. All of the photos, in one way or another, consisted of local families sitting on their porches: the mom showcasing her comically large wine glass, the dog in a "ruff times" bandana, and the kids in cheesy sunglasses, all posing for their "quarantine portrait." 

It was less than a matter of minutes before I had my first friend on the phone, scheduling what time I could park outside their house to shoot a portrait of them through my car window. By that time, however, I had decided that my version would be slightly different.  

Truth be told, I was a little tired of seeing the same nuclear families adjusting their masks and pointing at each other in a comedic fashion. I didn't want this to end up as an opportunity for my friends' parents to instruct them on what color they needed to wear so that the neighborhood Facebook group would be appeased with the post. Trust me, the wine-glass moms already had that covered. I wanted my friends to express whatever sat inside of them as a result of the immense change we were all experiencing, an idea that at the time was relatively hard for so many to think about doing.