#MelroseStaysHome

Melrose Stays Home was born from something that caught my eye on morning runs and after dinner walks around our neighborhood. This was during the first couple of days after we were all told to stay home and press pause on life as we know it. Families were out in the driveways, coloring with chalk. Families were taking walks after dinner, all together. Parents were sitting on the front lawn with their kids blowing bubbles or playing catch. Mind you, it was March– not exactly the best time of year for weather in New England.

These are beautiful but not extraordinary moments and yet it was suddenly all that I saw, everywhere, every day. It was clear that a new kind of life was taking shape and demanding to be noticed, even if it was only going to be temporary.

At first, I thought about just bringing my camera out with me and snapping candids. Taking street photos used to be one of my favorite things to do when we lived in Cambridge over a decade ago. I used to be pretty good at going largely unnoticed. But it occurred to me that being open about taking photos of families and connecting with them about how they were doing might just be the best balm for our collective isolation. So I decided to recruit families and in exchange for a photo of this strange moment in time, they would agree to purchase a gift card to one of our many amazing local businesses.

I thought maybe I would photograph a few dozen families. As I began sharing photos daily alongside the stories that families so generously shared with me, the response took on a life of its own. Within 2 months, we passed the 200 family mark.

I am proud of this project and of the snapshot in time that it offers. I knew that the stories had power on their own but I also knew that they really belonged together. The first way to do that is here and is a video featuring all of the participants set to music that I selected by artists Lady Bri, Asher and JJ Heller. Last, I am puting together all of the images and the stories shared by each family in a book format to be donated to our local library.

I love the idea of a child who is born in 2020 year flipping through the pages of this book at the library in 20 years and getting a glimpse of what we all experienced, apart…but together. Please check out the video below–Amazing music elevates the collection of some of Melrose’s finest!

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