School and life at home during a pandemic

older boy smiles at his mom and tosses basketball to her

When schools shut down because of coronavirus back in March of 2020, it felt surreal. When schools decided to go virtual in the fall of 2020, it felt serious. I wasn’t the only one feeling the historic weight of this decision on our children, and I’m so glad photographer and blogger Kita Bryant wanted to capture this moment for her family.

It was a privilege to photograph what this family’s life looked like as they went back to school remotely during their first week of school. The kids worked through their school responsibilities and managed to fit in household chores as well. Kita casually balanced running a business with being a music teacher, a PE teacher, and a mother.

I often wonder how hindsight will change our understanding of the decisions we are making right now. I think about how kids will look back at this time, and I wonder what they will think. Who’s to say how they will feel about how their lives changed during this pandemic, but I hope at the very least these kids look back at it and remember how awesome it was to have a little extra time with their mom during the day.

a girl wearing a school uniform plays with her braids

a boy plays the guitar in front of his computer

a girl watches a video on her computer in her bedroom

a girl in her room looks at her computer on her bed

a girl puts on makeup in front of a ring light

a girl puts on mascara while looking at her phone

a mother and daughter take a selfie together while sitting on the couch

a boy uses a controller to play a racing game on the computer

a girl wraps her arms around her brother's neck as a basketball goes into the hoop

a girl tries to hold back her brother as he runs away with the basketball.

a woman shoots a basketball as her smiling son tries to block it

a motion image of a boy trying to block his sister's basketball shot

a girl swings on the basketball net and her brother dribbles the basketball as he walks forward

a girl tries to block her brother as he shoots a basketball

The floor is lava…

The floor is lava in many of the homes where I photograph families. Luckily, I always remember to bring my lava boots because the floor in my own home is often lava.

The games we play as kids stick with us throughout life. They become the codes within our generation in which we build identity. They become the stories within families that siblings bond over.

While I don’t remember playing the floor is lava, we played a game called spider often. We would set up a blanket in the middle of the floor, and one person would be on that blanket as the spider. The spider had to try to catch the others as they moved around the room, but they couldn’t get off the blanket. The first person who was caught became the next spider. The game never got old. I don’t have any pictures of us playing the game, but I remember the texture of the soft blue blanket we used. I remember the brown and tan striped couch we jumped from to run to safety on the orange chair. I remember the game in the context of my childhood home.

Being able to capture the games you play is one of the many reasons I love photographing your family in your home. At home, your kids can be in pajamas and then become batman and still be able to decide to become a dinosaur. They can show off their trophy collection and incorporate all their tricks into play. They can jump from pillow to pillow when the floor is lava or jump on the bed and avoid the pillows that come flying at their face. Anything can happen, and so many things do happen.

I want to give you photographs that your kids will be able to use as portals back to their childhood. To remember the games they played with you. To see the parts of their identity that were already so clearly evident. To know without a doubt how much they are loved.

What games did you play as a child? Do you have any photographs of those games? What images come up in the memories?

Get in touch so I can make photos of your family in your home for your kids to discover in the future.