Using Quarantine to Connect

Because of a public quarantine from a global pandemic, families are starting to realize how much they actually need one another.

With classes being turned online and many moving back home to finish out the semester, for some, it is inevitable to be living directly with family members. As many may have seen, being cooped up with family can be a bit frustrating and makes us lose full connection to those we love.

To combat petty arguments and to take the mind off the isolation, one idea is to create a family photo story to share with each other and rebuild connections that may have been fried out from close proximity to each other.

Why a photo story? Does this require a lot of work? What about photo equipment? Editing software is expensive; how can I even make this happen? As good as these questions are, a simple google search and some thought application can see this is not only cheap or free, but something that can document your family for the future and requires the person to look introspectively into themselves and family.

Being close to your family allows you to take photos of personal and un-thought of actions like this photo.

Starting out, you should answer “why a photo story?” During times that are stressful for many, a mantra that keeps coming up is to keep family close. For some, a sad reality is that they do not have a family or other aspects of their family life which make it hard to keep and build connections with them. Those who are fortunate to have constructive family lives, especially college students, it is becoming more relevant how much they rely and care for their families. With a family photo story, it is putting the person who is documenting this in a position to see the vulnerabilities of their parents, siblings and other members who live with them. This also requires the person behind this project to objectively see their family going through their life which could make that person realize something about their families they would not have seen in general and build deeper connections.

This project may require “a lot of work,” but that also depends on how much the photographer wants to shoot/the effort put into this. Doing this project thoroughly is dependent on the photographer’s idea of what is thorough. This may be the most difficult part of this. Living in a place you know everyday, moreso during this quarantine, can suck creativity out of anyone. How can you find something new in a place you know everything about? Well, that is where it starts to become easier because honestly, there is no way of knowing everything about the place you live. There is no way every angle of your place has been seen and explored from different perspectives. Once you are able to view things differently, photographing family can be fun and even more creative. Getting your family aboard who will go about their day normally with you photographing them may be difficult as well, but definitely easier than trying to find different perspectives to shoot from.

For equipment, all this really requires is a phone and either an editing app or software. iPhone and Apple users already have access to things like iMovie. There are also free video editing apps on the Apple app store and Google Play store also. Some of these may require payments to do more advanced editing like many apps, but at least have the basics for piecing a photo story together. Some of these include Magisto Video Editor and Splice which are a couple popular video editing apps usable on phones and tablets. If editing on a laptop or desktop is more your style, according to Shopify, OpenShot and VSDC Free Video Editor are pretty in-depth free video editing software (VDSC’s editing software is $19.99 for the pro version.) This list can be found here. Lighting equipment can be done creatively also. Flashlights and umbrellas are simple household items that can be utilized for lighting or even taping a flashlight to a broomstick to get light at certain angles works also. There is a lot that can be done with equipment to help with this project that can be found easily around (and keeps you from risking infection during quarantine going out and buying equipment.)

While panic and frustration may be setting in for some, this project offers wholesome relief. Focusing and capturing your family’s life in a way that evokes emotion and accurately portrays the strange or fun reality they and you experience everyday can make you see things differently and help grow closer and deeper to those you feature.

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