Editor’s Note: This article was written by a close friend of The Biscuit, Tonya Reid. Tonya is a hairdresser and owner of T. Reid & Company, a salon and spa that has been cutting it up in Charlotte since 2001. T. Reid and Company is also a proud sponsor of the HUG Micro-grant program. Today, Tonya trades her scissors for a keyboard so let’s see what she has to say!

There’s no doubt that “social distancing” will go down in history as 2020’s phrase of the year. A lot of others are gaining popularity like #stayathome or #flattenthecurve. I personally am fond of #CreativityInCaptivity and would love to see it get some traction. As a hairdresser whose daily creative endeavors have been cut off (pun intended), I’ve enjoyed living vicariously through others in my artistic community.

One such movement I recently discovered is the #FrontStepsProject brought to Charlotte by my dear friend and local photographer extraordinaire, Emily Cloutier.

We were talking on the phone the other day, as in an actual conversation with words, not emojis and GIFs. She excitedly told me that she “found a way to combine two of her passions, helping people and photography!”

The Front Steps Project has become an international movement where photographers take a picture of families standing on their front steps in exchange for a donation to a charity of the photographers choosing.

Photos that Feed

So how do you get Emily to capture your housebound family’s photo? First, head to her website and click on “Find Out About The Front Steps Project!” From there you make a donation to The King’s Kitchen or The Charlotte Mecklenburg Dream Center.

The King’s Kitchen has currently suspended normal operations to focus on feeding the less fortunate during this time of COVID craziness. They’ve partnered with the Charlotte Mecklenberg Dream Center, who is helping get the food to those who are in need.

Together they are providing over 1,000 meals a day to the Charlotte community. There is no required donation amount but please give what you can.

Next, Emily contacts you with a timeframe that she will be in your area. She pulls up in front of your house. Honks the horn. You and your family come out. She captures you using a zoom lens. (From a safe distance, she assured me!) And then she sends you a digital download of your pics.

So far she’s made 25 curbside house calls and has 30 more over the next couple of days.

Emily has seen people come out in everything from pajamas to coordinating attire to repurposed Halloween costumes! She shared, ”Having this opportunity to provide something for families to look forward to, be it a photographer pulling up to take a family photo to documenting history in this unprecedented time to putting a smile on someone’s face. I’m all in! I’m there!”

So give what you can, get ready to cheese it up for the camera and go ahead and start on those Holiday cards. You can’t say you couldn’t find the time this year! #CreativityInCaptivity, pass it on!

Here’s a few of Emily’s #FrontStepProject Photos