The stoop is where New Yorkers live, play, eat (and drink)—and now it's the backdrop of a new documentary and family portrait series called "Stoop Stories."
The project, by digital storyteller and children’s educational media producer Marj Kleinman, gathers Brooklyn residents on their respective stoops for a "family" photo. Each photo is paired with a snippet from an interview Kleinman did about how they're coping.
Each one is like a digital time capsule captured on what is essentially an outdoor extension of a living room or foyer. It's where families, at least those who have stoops, can be in the context of their homes and still be outside—a gateway to the outside world during the citywide shutdown.
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Those that don't have a stoop are still welcome to take part in the project, too. A stoop doesn't have to mean a brownstone staircase, it could be the space by a front door or even someone else's stoop.
Kleinman posts her portraits on Instagram at @stoop.stories, where you'll find more than 40 Brooklynites' stories, from pregnant women concerned about the future to friends social distancing with one another, and from large families keeping each other sane to individuals going through isolation on their own.
Kleinman traverses Brooklyn to capture her neighbors (she walks because doesn't have a car) but she has a personal connection to stoop life, having lived in Boerum Hill her entire life.
"When the lockdown started, my stoop became my refuge and provided a perfect six foot distance from top to bottom," she tells us. "A friend or neighbor could pop by and hang on the bottom step with me at the top. I live in the same brownstone my parents bought in 1969. I really dig stoop life."
She hopes that Stoop Stories is "a vehicle for raising all Brooklynite’s voices," she says.
When taking their photographs, she lets the families decide on how they want to pose, but she aims for truth.
"I try to let them be authentically them," she says. " I ask, 'How would you usually hang out on stoop?' and let them fall in to positions they feel comfortable in."
And with dozens of sessions under her belt, she's realized a few things.
"Everyone is struggling, yet everyone, even essential workers facing the most extreme challenges, are finding light and joy," she says. "I have always been fascinated with resilience. The central questions I ask is 'How are you coping with COVID?' and I love that some respond with 'OK' or 'I’m not!' while others share their specific coping mechanisms."
She said that while it may not be the case for every child, kids in general seem to be doing OK.
"I keep wanting to say 'the kids are alright,'" she admits. "Kids really are quite resilient. They’re seemingly coping well. And we can only hope that lasts."
Kleinman's project is part of a documentary she started about 10 years ago, where she filmed neighbors talking about "the old days" and now was the "perfect time" to revive it given that much of New York City is hanging out on their stoops. A week in to doing it, she noticed a few photographers on Instagram participating in The Front Steps Project who have helped raise more than $1 million dollars in relief funds.
"Even though Stoop Stories has a different model and focuses more on documentary storytelling, I’m proud to be part of this community and I’ve also met two other Brooklyn 'front steps' photographers and we are supporting each other through this time and looking for ways to collaborate," she says.
At the very least, her photo sessions, which you can book here for $100 to $150 and free for essential workers (20 percent goes to relief efforts), offer a glimmer of light and break up a bit of the monotony of staying home.
"For some, it's a reason to get dressed," she says. "Some people come out as they are. Some people have fun with it and get dressed up. I’m happy to bring some joy to families when I visit them for their stoop shoots."
"If this can give families a memory of the positive side of the experience, it might help them cope with lasting trauma" she says.
Kleinman hopes to see the project grow, too. She will soon ask for people to submit their stories and photographs and hopes to expand her stories to other parts of New York City some day.
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