On to the next.  I decided I would photograph families in front of their homes from a safe distance. I let them know that I would like to photograph their family in front of their house, and it is up to them how they would like to express their covid-19 experience.  If they want to wear masks and gloves, that’s fine.  If they just want to stand in solidarity with one another in front of a rainbow in their window, that’s fine, too.  I didn’t want to micromanage, because this is more about documenting the experience of a period of time than it is about me.  I began scheduling right away, and as luck would have it, I keep catching the rainstorms, and no one wants to do the rain shots.  I wanted the rain shots, but this is about THEM.  So far, I have shot one family.  It ends up, all they wanted to do was stand together, then they wanted to show me their chickens.  Fine by me.  I went over early enough in the day to ensure better lighting, and took a variety of shots.  I actually have two more families scheduled for this upcoming Saturday, so I will be adding to here as they come.

In the meantime, because everything seems to be continuously backfiring at a monumental level, I may try another avenue tomorrow (idea 4) if I can’t sell myself on these phots that I have taken thus far.  I basically need to find a family with a flare for the dramatic, or that’s going to be what happens.

One of the artists who inspires me in this endeavor is http://www.maryellenmark.com/

I also keep thinking about:

Diane Arbus once said, ‘a photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.’

These are the reasons why, I will likely end up scrapping these phots in lieu of a much more original approach.  My photos of family number one are boring and contrived.  We’ll see what happens.