LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES LIFE AT A DISTANCE DURING COVID-19

Local photographer Bill Marsh has taken to the streets in hopes of photographing families during the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing in mind, families posed from their windows, porches and front yards as he snapped their pictures with a long lens.

In one shot, a family poses in Calgary Flames jerseys and hockey sticks; another family wears matching pajamas.

Like many Cochranites, Marsh found himself with a little extra time on his hands and is using his community spirit to offer free family portraits to people in his neighbourhood.

Bill was inspired by other photographers in Nanton and Calgary who have been taking photos of families outside on their porch in support of local charities.

“I thought I could do that, too, and help out around my community,” he said. “I want to do my part by giving back while creating some happy memories during an uncertain time.”

Bill says he’s capturing families in isolation not surviving – but thriving.

The results have been heartwarming. In the last week, Bill says he’s shot 12 families with hopes for a few hundred over the coming weeks if the weather cooperates.

Bill is offering his free fifteen-minute family photo sessions to the people of Cochrane in exchange for a monetary donation to a local charity of their choice.

Anyone interested in booking a free photo session can send him a private message through his Facebook group Cochrane Porch Portraits (https://www.facebook.com/groups/593148051414739/).