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View from the Steps Local photographers support organizations in need through their craft
JUNE 2020
The Atkins family by LKN Images.
18 LAKE NORMAN CURRENTS
Beverly Barry by LKN Images.
T
he Front Steps Project TM began as a brainstorming session between Boston-area photographer Cara Soulia and her friend Kristen Collins. They wanted a way to highlight the faces of the community during a time when shelter-at-home orders of the COVID-19 pandemic was keeping people separated. Soulia and Collins spearheaded the group, called on other photographers, and began taking images of community members in Needham, Mass., asking participants to donate money to a local nonprofit. As word about this initiative
The Becker Family by Rachelle Anne Photography.
spread across the country, LKN had its own photographers who decided to participate in the #FrontStepsProject by offering to photograph community members and families in the yards of their homes (while maintaining a safe distance from those being photographed). Kathleen and Ed Martin, owners of LKN Images, decided to support FeedNC ( formerly Mooresville Soup Kitchen), by asking families to donate directly to the organization in lieu of compensation for their photographs. As of May 12, LKN Images had photographed more than 700 families and
The Thakore Family by Gayle Shomer Photography.
raised $46,000 for FeedNC. Ten daily. I am amazed by Ed and thousand dollars of this amount Kathleen, LKN Images, and the was donated by the medical staff Front Steps Project and what of the Lake Norman Regional community members can do Medical Center. to support each other when we “I could not possibly express come together.” my gratitude for their efforts during this time of crisis and how much of an impact it will have,” says Lara Ingram, Executive Director of the organization. “FeedNC is feeding close to 1,000 individuals weekly throughout this crisis The Lewman-Chris Family by Gayle Shomer Photography. with demand growing