A North Vancouver photographer has raised thousands of dollars for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation by documenting North Shore families on their front steps as they self-isolate at home.
With a lot of conventional photography work unable to be performed because of physical distancing requirements due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, photographer Eva Grace sought to virtually bring North Shore families together while many remain coped up inside.
Describing her Front Steps Project as a way of “documenting a unique time that hopefully we’ll never have to go through again,” she said she also wanted to do something positive for the health-care workers on the front line of the pandemic.
“I was feeling like I was at home and what can I do?” she said.
The Front Steps Project started in the U.S. in March, when a photographer decided to highlight the faces in their community and raise money for charity during a time when people aren’t as likely to see their neighbours as they go about their quarantined daily routines.
At the end of March, Grace launched her own iteration of the project, announcing on Instagram that she’d be doing by-donation photography sessions on the front steps of family homes across the North Shore. Families could reach out to Grace on Instagram and she’d pencil them in for a 15-minute window where she’d capture the family in their essence as they went about contending with a unique moment in history.
“They just look out for me, I don’t go knocking on the door or ring the doorbell,” said Grace. “They get five guaranteed images.”
She photographed upwards of 70 North Shore families – all the pictures were of the families posing on their front steps while isolating at home – and raised more than $10,000 for Lions Gate Hospital Foundation in 10 days. The average family donated more than $100 for the photo session, according to Grace.
Since raising that amount through donations, she’s decided to continue the project though now she’s implemented a session fee with half the proceeds still going to Lions Gate Hospital Foundation. To date, she’s raised more than $17,000 for the foundation.
“I started off with a goal of $5,000 because I didn’t really know if it’d be that popular, and then within four days it was at $5,000,” she said. “I’ll basically continue until we’re not in isolation anymore.”
