RANDLEMAN, N.C. — Erin Mintmier spent the first-week in quarantine alone in her Washington D.C. apartment. Her job with the USO had closed its office and she was working from home, “I realized this was going to get boring fast, so I decided to go home,” said Mintmier.
Her parents still live in Randleman so Mintmier loaded up her car and drove to North Carolina. Being around family is much better than being cooped up in a small apartment but she quickly realized she missed people, “You start to get accustomed to using social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to communicate with everyone,” said Mintmier.
The nice thing about coming home is how many family members live close by. She has cousins and grandparents on the farms behind their’ s and just down the road and other relatives, “There’s a lot of us that’s for sure,” said Mintmier.
The problem with being so close right now is you want to visit and hang out, but you can’t. It got her thinking how many of her neighbors haven’t been able to even see their friends for a few weeks. So Mintmier decided she would do something about it, “I brought my camera with me,” said Mintmier.
The past couple weeks Mintmier has logged about 20 miles walking around different neighborhoods in her area and taking pictures of people, “I just wanted people to be able to see their neighbors down the street and say hi and smile,” said Mintmier.
All of the photos are uploaded so neighbors can log on and see them. Mintmier jokes they’re also in black and white because everyone looks better that way. The “Front Porch” photography project started with family but quickly grew as neighbors started to hear about it and ask Mintmier to stop by and take their picture, “This is a unique time and I think if we can find a way to make something positive out of it and remember that we did smile some days,” said Mintmier.
Mintmier has taken more than a hundred pictures in the past couple weeks while always staying six feet away. Early on she went down the church directory and called people when she was in the neighborhood, “I had one lady say no, and then she called me back the next day and said she didn’t understand what I was doing and wanted me to come back,” said Mintmier.
The photos are free and anyone can use the photos she puts on the website, “I love that people have written me and thanked me for the photos they say this is one of the best we have had,” said Mintmier.
