The Driveway Project
So, here’s what led to the start of The Driveway Project …
It was with a heavy heart that I made the decision to postpone photographing families even prior to the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, officially announcing the first of the COVID-19 restrictions on certain businesses
– photography not being one of them at the time.
I had read in my local Facebook Community Group how so many of the nearby restaurants, cafes, barbers and many other small businesses were feeling scared and hopeless for what lay ahead of them. There had been a huge outpouring of love and support for our local businesses as they began to transform themselves and their offerings in order to stay afloat during this very uncertain time.
I had also read in my local Facebook Community Group about families who started homeschooling their children, who were teaching the grandparents how to Face Time, who went for walks in the neighbourhood in search of the many hundreds of teddy bears that had been placed in the windows and verandahs of homes, even a dedicated Facebook group featuring favourite recipes that were being cooked during this self-isolation period was created.
Our already beautiful community was pulling together to find ways to keep each other ‘connected’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. I knew I wanted to do something for the incredibly thoughtful families that made up the local community that I am so fortunate to live in.
I had been inspired by #theporchproject in America and also two Australian photographers, Francesca Fuga, who had started #thedrivewayproject in Darwin NT, and Deanne Woods in Mackay, but it wasn’t until a local resident (professional documentary photographer and academic) posted in our Facebook Community Group that she’d been toying with the idea of doing FREE driveway portraits to give back to the community. I was in touch with her immediately and we spoke at great lengths about the value this would bring to the community and also the necessity to document this time in Brisbane’s history.
For 5 weeks straight, I met and photographed over 160 local families and listened to how they were dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and restrictions. Some of the stories were of gratefulness for the reminder to slow down and enjoy the things that matter most. Others were about the struggle to balance work and home schooling along with the difficulties of not having access to a much needed support system in their livesduring this time.
Everyone had something different to say and as I began to share each family’s photo and backstory, I watched our local community leave beautiful comments and reach out to connect and support each other during this crisis.
Whilst I would have loved to continue photographing many more local families, as soon as the Government restrictions started to ease, especially those relating to children returning to school, I made the decision to stop accepting new driveway bookings.
Thank you to the families who have encouraged and suggested to me that these photos need to be shared outside of the Facebook Community Group. From compiling a book to holding an exhibition, I’ve been overwhelmed with the support and I promise to keep everyone up to date as I look into these suggestions. Currently, there are discussions in place to contribute work to major National and local archives as this project is essential to our documentation of the Australian living experience during this historical crisis.
The Driveway Project was free to all families who participated. They were fast, often spending no more than 5-10 minutes photographing each family before driving to the next – most afternoons up to 9 families in 90 minutes. They were fun and joyful and always met by beautiful smiling faces excited to see me pull up to their home. All driveway sessions strictly followed the current QLD Government guidelines and restrictions including the 2 metre distancing rules.
The images taken during this unprecedented time in history will tell the stories of those families living nearby to me.
Hence, The Driveway Project officially began for my local community
on the 4th April, 2020 and ended on 12th May 2020.
“We are both juggling working from home and being there for our 4 children also now home from school and daycare. We are missing Granny and Poppa who have to keep away for the time being but started penpalling and Skype music lessons on the keyboard with them. And for now enjoying the silver lining of having more family time including playing endless rounds of Uno and family bike rides along the creek to feed the turtles. The kids loved decorating the front steps with teddies and were super excited to have any sort of ‘visitor’.” – POLLY
“Although the Coronavirus restrictions have challenged our normal family routine we’ve loved finding new ways to make the most of time together and connect in news ways. Together we’ve been able to breathe new life into old interests like baking and sewing and building lego while finding innovative ways to enjoy what we already love. And above all we’ve loved doing it together!” – LIZ
“With both my husband and I working full time plus four very active children, it always seems nearly impossible to get everyone together and do something nice as a family. During our time in self-isolation, we have managed to do just that…..we have been filling our days making memories never to be forgotten. Time is standing still and we are savouring each and every moment. It feels like this is our “re-start”, a new, slower way of life enjoying the things which is truly important.” – SUZANNE
“We have reconnected in ways that we didn’t realise we needed to. Our children are getting along better than ever, and there is a lot more laughter than I was expecting. There is also a lot more screen time than I planned on, and so much more time in the kitchen than I wanted! We miss our extended families, and our kids especially miss their cousins, but we have a beautiful neighbourhood that has really banded together in the last few months which has been lovely.” – LEAH
“This home has been the place I have lived the longest and where me, Mr Darcy and my children ( although not with me this weekend) have made our home together . We have the most wonderful community and neighbours , our social distancing time has been made much more bearable by the driveway smiles and street activities. We are so lucky to live on Our Street! ” – JODI
MY VERY OWN FAMILY DRIVEWAY PORTRAIT
“It’s been a whirlwind couple of months, with so many things to carefully, yet quickly, consider
that I never thought I would need to during my lifetime. Working as a frontline healthcare Pharmacist two days a week, the early days were confronting and challenging. Dealing with medical concerns, panic and fear from customers along with their lack of respect for how they spoke to and treated the staff that I work with, was at times distressing. I was thankful to come home to a loving and supportive husband and two sons. The driveway project filled my heart with so much joy that I will forever be thankful to the beautiful families who allowed me to document this unbeliveable time in their lives and mine, especially knowng that these photographs and stories would be treasured and passed down to future generations. Despite working very hard as a Pharmacist and a Photographer, I accelerated my role as a Mum and cooked (and cleaned) like no tomorrow – more than I ever had in my lifetime. From Orange + Ginger jam, Lemon butter, Mini Pavlovas, Scones, Beer battered Moreton Bay Bug brioche – nothing was off limits. My husband continued to work in Retail Management and learnt quickly to adapt to an extremely altered retail environment. Both sons (Yr 9 +12) embraced the online school learning system and showed incredible resiliance throughout it. Most of their free time was spent outdoors playing street basketball and volleyball either together or with the neighbourhood kids – everyone with their own ball and with social distancing in place. Throughout this crisis I am most thankful for the support, kindness and friendships from my family, my beautiful neighbours and also my local community. I have met so many new families from #thedrivewayproject who I now consider friends and I look forward to bumping into them at the local parks, cafes, restaurants and
small businesses when life returns to normal one day soon.” – LEANNE
To view almost all of the 163 beautiful families who participated in #thedrivewayproject, enjoy the slideshow below.