To the naked eye, these photos may just come across as celebrity portraits with interesting compositions. But would you believe these were all photographed over video conference?

That’s right, all these photos were captured without the photographer physically present.

Professional photographer Jenny Anderson has been shooting members of the Broadway community for more than a decade. She was scheduled to photograph the opening night of the musical “Six” on March 12, the very day Broadway shut down.

At first she was very sad when she heard the news. "I was happy that they made that decision because it was smart. But a little selfishly was like, 'Well, I just lost my job and probably have lost several jobs.' So the first 16, 17 days of this quarantine, I was not feeling creative," Anderson said. "But then I have this friend, his name is Rommel. he's taking photos of people from the street and I just was so inspired by him."

Anderson set out to document how members of the theater community were coping during quarantine. But social distancing posed a unique challenge. So she re-outfitted her home studio to block out the light and set up remote photography sessions over video chat.

"There's not a whole lot that I can control on my end. I sit in a chair, I point my actual camera to the computer, and I shoot whatever they're able to give me. So they tour me around and I'm like, 'Oh, I like that spot and that spot's good and those light shadows are great.' It's a little bit of a masterclass in teaching photography, oddly. Which becomes really cool because it gets really collaborative," Anderson said, enthused.

 
 
 
 
 
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Broadway Virtual Quarantine Portrait Series. Session 3 Part 1. I’ve asked my Broadway friends to do a little FaceTime photoshoot with me from their shelter in place location and tell me a bit about what they are going through, how they are feeling creative or NOT during this crazy, scary time. If you have the means to support our community please donate to @theactorsfund #broadwayphotog #quarantineportraits #actor #performer #shelterinplace #BroadwayQuarantinedSeries #StayHome #SaveLives #washyourhands ****************************************************** “It’s interesting. Immediately when this happened I felt the need to hibernate. I deleted all apps, socials, I was so grateful for the time to NOT be in the public eye, to feel that I wasn’t missing anything, that there were no responsibilities I had. Kyle and I actually had quite opposite reactions which was interesting. As an artist, I constantly feel the responsibility to be CEO of my company. It feels...all-consuming on certain days. The silver lining of this time has been the chance to pause and ask, ‘What do I, Erika, the INDIVIDUAL want/need...not Erika the COMPANY.’ I’ve found out I want more time to talk to my people I love, to cook food, to read, write, to be outside, to listen to birds, watch spring unfold. We have cardinals who come visit us outside our window. They’re beautiful, I don’t think I would have noticed them if this wasn’t happening. More than anything, I’ve felt rejuvenated in my decision to be an artist. Someone who brings people together. I took that aspect of live theater for granted: the mere existence of an AUDIENCE, people coming together in one place, is special. I got so distracted by my work as the performer on stage I forgot about the beauty of the humans in the seats, of people GATHERING. I don’t think I will ever underestimate how special that is, now, that it has been taken away from us.” - @erikahenningsen (sheltering in West Milford, New Jersey)

A post shared by Jenny Anderson (@jennyandersonphoto) on

But Anderson doesn’t just have this dynamic collection to show for her time stuck at home. She’s also been offered new gigs.

"I also just got connected with Netflix and I'm starting to do these for them. And I had a friend of mine, who is a doctor, reach out to me a couple of days ago, and he wants to start doing these with doctors and nurses," Anderson said about her upcoming work.

Despite Broadway being closed, Anderson said this time has led to some of her most rewarding work:

"These have oddly been more intimate than any shoots I've done. Even though we're doing it through a computer, they're bringing me into their space that they've chosen to quarantine in, which I think is very intimate."



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