been offering her photography services to her neighbors through Porch Portraits, keeping a safe
distance as she captures local families making the best of an unprecedented time.
Chloe Sorid wasted no time putting her disrupted school schedule to good use.
The Lenape High School freshman already has her own baking company set up and now, thanks to some inspiration from a nearby town, the Mt. Laurel resident has been fine-tuning her photography skills for the benefit of neighbors.
“One of my neighbors sent me a link about a lady who did this in Hainesport, and I thought it was a really fun and creative idea, so I shared it with my neighborhood’s Facebook page,” Sorid said. “The response has been great: I’ve already done five or six in my neighborhood.”
The response to her free, safe-distance photo sessions has been so positive it’s inspired Sorid to reach out to the township community, too.
“I have nine more [portraits] coming up, and some of those are maybe five to 10 minutes away in other neighborhoods,” she said. “I’m pretty much willing to go anywhere in Mt. Laurel.”
Sorid’s introduction to life as a shutterbug came from getting acquainted with other photographers’ work online. From there, she’s been getting to know her way around her camera and learning tricks of the trade, all while finding out how much joy her developing hobby can bring others, too.
“I asked for a camera for my birthday, and now I’m using this time to understand how it works,” Sorid said. “For the Porch Portraits, I just wanted to capture everyone doing something that describes them in a way that gives them something fun to do and get out of the house.”
Each portrait so far is as unique as the families requesting Sorid’s services. She encourages her photography subjects to have fun with their portraits and let their personalities shine through. Some opt for more traditional images of a family to remember how they stuck together in a difficult time, while others make light of the current situation.
“I’ll either suggest poses to them or they’ll have something already planned that goes with their theme,” Sorid explained. “I have neighbors I know who will come up with great ideas that will blow everyone away, while others just want a nice photograph of their family. One did a prom theme because her son’s a senior at Lenape, and another family had the theme of ‘We’re all in this together as a family.’
“They’ve all been really different and creative.”
Sorid’s neighbor, Rachel Cashin, was part of the prom-themed photo and has enjoyed the chance to see what kind of personal touches each family adds to individualize their portraits.
“Our family decided to document how quarantine is affecting my son’s senior year at Lenape High School,” said Cashin, whose portrait “put a fun spin” on the uncertainty of not knowing whether prom or graduation will happen as planned this year.
“Other families displayed Lysol and toilet paper in their portrait. Each family came up with a creative idea, which Chloe documented in her awesome pics.”
Sorid has faced the hurdle of overcoming her age when it comes to convincing others of her professionalism and capability, but sharing proof of her talents is usually all she needs to make her case.
“Being young, it can be a little hard: I have my baking business and I’m really interested in business, but whenever I announce that I’m doing something, I know some people are like, ‘Well, I don’t know,’” Sorid noted. “But then I’ll post my photos and people have really good reactions to them, and that’s when I started getting more people interested in doing it — and some messages from people in other neighborhoods, too.”
The people Sorid has photographed so far have been appreciative of the outside-the-box opportunity for a delightful distraction from the monotony of quarantining.
“People are using their creativity to capture this time when everyone’s a little confused,” she explained. “A lot of people were telling me that it was nice to get ready for something or to just get out of their house, even just to take some pictures. I’ve gotten a lot of messages like that, and it made me really happy because it felt like I was doing something that makes other people happy.”
Of course, Sorid’s having a great time, too, as she learns about a hobby she would like to grow into a business while simultaneously connecting with her neighbors, even if they have to maintain a safe distance.
“I’ve definitely been very cautious about keeping my distance,” Sorid noted. “But from 6 feet apart, we’re still able to catch up and see how someone is doing. I feel like everyone’s a little happier just by getting outside and talking to other people.”
Anyone interested in having their own Porch Portrait taken can reach Sorid at chloesoridphotography@gmail.com or through her website at chloesoridphotography.com.
