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Over the course of the last two weeks alone, David Puente has photographed 146 happy families from a respectful distance.
A post shared by davepuente (@davepuente) on Apr 8, 2020 at 5:54am PDT
Rather than letting social distancing keep him from his passion for photography, Dave Puente has found a way to join local families in celebrating the silver linings of quarantine.
The photographer from Minneapolis, Minnesota has been taking free family portraits that document the joyful part of community members being at home with their loved ones-and he does it all while simultaneously respecting social distancing guidelines.
Over the course of the last two weeks, Puente has driven 1,365 miles to 146 homes in order to take photos of families on their porches for his heartwarming "Porchtrait" project.
"Summary of the morning: block towers of 100, making big breakfast together, music drumming jam session, and then science:homemade ice cream shaken to @taylorswift"
A post shared by davepuente (@davepuente) on Mar 20, 2020 at 10:30am PDT
Each family portrait is captioned with a heartwarming or amusing anecdote form the family-and with Puente taking the pictures from a distance, the series manages to capture a unique sneak peek into the lives of families waiting out the COVID-19 outbreaks.
"I wanted to give somebody something that they can hang on the wall and in a few years look back on it and in such a frantic and scary time see there was some silver lining to it," Puente told WCCO News. "It's therapeutic for me and it's been that way… for so many people."
Since Puente began publishing his Porchtraits to social media, he has been flooded with messages of support and appreciation for the project.
"At the start of all this craziness we had to make the tough decision to postpone our trip to Guatemala. We were supposed to be serving at the orphanage Stephen worked at 15 years ago. An orphanage that's been a big part of our lives and would have been my first time visiting. But God's timing is perfect and the day we were supposed to have flown out, was the day that Guatemala shut its borders to all foreigners. As my dad has always said, "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!" Or in our case... MUD!!! - @mrsdeuth #porchtraits
A post shared by davepuente (@davepuente) on Mar 29, 2020 at 7:14pm PDT
As a means of financing his labor of love and paying his bills, Puente also created a GoFundMe page for the Porchtraits project.
Since launching the campaign last week, he has received more than $900 in donations.
"The reality is, this effort has a expiration date, and with your help, I can continue to photograph family's for free and serve this incredible community in this unique way during these uncertain times," wrote Puente. "This has been the highlight of my professional career and with your help, we can keep it going."
"I used to grocery shop for two weeks out. Now everything is so accessible. Everybody is always running. It's good to slow down and count your blessings. Better to look out your window than a hospital window..." -Juleen #porchraits
A post shared by davepuente (@davepuente) on Mar 24, 2020 at 1:07pm PDT
If you want to check out more of Puente's Porchtraits series, you can either visit his website or his Instagram page.
This is just one of many positive stories and updates that are coming out of the COVID-19 news coverage this week. For more uplifting coverage on the outbreaks, click here.
"Baby Lucy decided to make her debut at the perfect time - 11 days early and right before the coronavirus took off. The hospital allowed both mom and dad to there for her birth but no other visitors. It was the happiest day of our lives, but also such a unique experience to bring a baby into this world. Luckily, she was able to meet most family once we arrived home but after day 3 of being home we had to limit all visitors. We are soaking in all of the newborn baby snuggles and she continues to meet family and friends through the window and on FaceTime. We will never forget this experience of becoming first time parents and finding calm amongst the chaos." @kmoody30 #porchtraits
A post shared by davepuente (@davepuente) on Mar 25, 2020 at 11:48am PDT
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