On the count of ONE … picture a busy mother of three little boys — a woman who says she’s 105 pounds soaking wet. Now, on TWO … imagine her carrying a bulky ladder towering above her. On THREE … smile at the snapshots she’s creating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meet Krissy Benda who looks at the big picture when life seems out of focus. A woman who clearly takes extra steps to help others see it too.
“I drug this 6-foot ladder around with me, up and down my street a thousand times, and then up and down the ladder with the camera,” the energetic military wife said, explaining how she photographed neighbors far beyond the “social distance” norm.
It’s Krissy’s take on The Front Porch Project that was suggested by a friend. An effort nationwide that has captured images of people at home on their porches during the Shelter in Place mandate.
HOLD IT! Porches?
Unlike wide smiles, they’re in short supply in her neighborhood.
“We have German apartment windows and only a few balconies,” Krissy said, describing the typical three or 4-story housing where they live on the military base.
But could that obstacle stop a marathon runner who loves a challenge? A registered nurse, now full-time mom, who wishes she could be on the front-lines to help during this crisis?
“I have a lot of nurse friends back in the states and they’re posting how things are there. I needed a feeling that I was giving back too,” the petite brunette said about her voluntary mission; a project she could squeeze in between her children’s online schooling and her continuing education, only with her husband’s help. “Rob is the most supportive husband in the world, and I couldn’t do it without him!”
Getting the photos wouldn’t be a “snap”, of course. There were scheduling and changing sunlight angles to consider … and oh yes, the missing porches.
Even so, Krissy had a first-hand perspective on why these portraits of life in the “new norm” were so needed; how hard it is for families to be shuttered inside day after day. She and her husband were quarantined for two weeks because of his international travel even before the Stay at Home command.
“We’re in a third-floor apartment and it’s really challenging. I’m always saying, ‘Shh … not too loud!’” Krissy said, noting that her youngest of three is under two years of age, and how do you fill long days indoors for children — and for her too. “It was like, ‘OK, what pajamas am I wearing today?’” She said with a laugh. “Our calendar is always so full, and then all of a sudden there’s really nothing.”
This athletic mom filled some of the hours measuring their apartment hallway to figure out how many laps it would take to run a 5K inside. Then, once restrictions allowed — and Rob could watch the kids — Krissy was out the door in a flash; ready to step up her picture project that had developed, and expanded, when she posted the idea on Facebook.
She had a sharp image in mind of how she’d shoot sans front porches.
Perched at the top of the tall ladder, a dainty necklace’s cross reflecting in the light and her long zoom lens in place, Krissy shot more than 500 photos of over 50 families at their apartment windows or small balconies, just for the love of photography and people. If money was offered, she quickly steered them to military charities.
“People got so excited about doing the photos and I was so happy to do something for them, bring some joy,” Krissy said, adding they came up with their own ideas for their picture pose.
No one was camera-shy and most friends went for a humor angle, she said, even one family dressing in German dirndls and lederhosen while tossing toilet paper rolls into the air. Another showed a couple pouring wine from the apartment window above into a waiting goblet below.
“I told them to do whatever is going to make you look back on this in 10 years and remember this time in our lives, and kind of chuckle. To know there was some joy, not just “yuck” in this situation,” Krissy said.
For this woman of faith, helping others see the bigger picture has been her aim.
“I say it’s just spreading love, not the virus,” Krissy said with a smile. “Positivity is contagious too!”
CLICK! A clear mission accomplished.
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(Lucy Luginbill is a career television producer-host and the Spiritual Life editor for the Tri-City Herald. In her column, she reflects on the meaning of her name, “Light Bringer.” If you have a story idea for Light Notes, contact her at lluginbill@tricityherald.com.)
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