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People of Laramie, Laramie, WY (2026)

04/10/2022

JENNIFER & BACON // porch portrait series

“The day this photo was taken happened to be the 3rd anniversary of losing my step father, Tom, to cancer. Which means it's been 2 years since my trip to Iceland and tour of the northern lights (to celebrate his life) was cancelled because the world shut down a few days before the trip. At my step-dad's funeral my brother talked about how his dad had sought out a therapist and made amends with his past. He shared how he was so incredibly proud of him for learning and growing in his later years, and how we should take a page from his book. And so I did just that. Knowing I had my own issues and the world being what it was, I started therapy in May 2020. I've learned a lot more about myself: about who I am and who I aim to be, faced some ugly parts of my past, and hopefully have grown in the process. If anything, I'm at least trying…even participating in this photo project was a very vulnerable thing for me to do.

I’ve lived in Laramie going on 9 years now and I'm finally feeling like I have a good sense of place here. Gem City can be a lonely place, if you let it. It was for me for a very long time, even before the pandemic. Luckily though, I've made a few solid connections with folks and coworkers throughout all of this, gotten closer to cousins, and strengthened friendships with my long-distance besties. And of course, there’s my dog, Bacon, who I wouldn't have survived these past couple of years without. I know we're not through this thing yet, but I hope we're starting to turn that corner. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic today. Or maybe that's just the (fake) Laradise spring time feeling talking.”

03/12/2022

AUTUMN & OLIVER // porch portrait series

“It feels surreal that we are two years into a pandemic. Not only did Covid shift my life plans (like it did all of us), but it is still very much real today. Right now I am learning how to be a mental health counselor during a time of immense global trauma. It’s such a wild experience to get to know people on such a deep level when you don’t even know what half of their face looks like. In one way or another, the pandemic has shaped all of us. It feels like we are all learning together to live with this unknown and scary reality, truly unsure what each new year will bring. I can say that even with the sea of unknowns, I am continually amazed by people’s resiliency. That’s what gives me hope. I am especially grateful for the people I surround myself with. Including my dog Oliver, who came to me during the height of Covid and I cannot imagine surviving this time without him.”

03/05/2022

SARAH // porch portrait series

“When working with Rose for the porch pic, we both said, the park? I’ve written so much here. Rose, I actually opened a notebook from July 2021 and every other page — something written in Undine. Some lines I can think of off the top of my head are about eyes on the tips of these grass blades, or that collie’s dirt-haloed porch-corner on 7th and Park. I would come here after too many hours on Zoom and just let my eyes and my heart readjust to texture, to living. I wrote about the man mowing grass, the pickle ball players, the cottonwoods. I wrote some little elegies, like —

what could live here? �tell me then, show me
making myself a seed

God, these years though. What do we say? I’ve been pretty gutted — like the landscape of my mind, inarticulate. I’m supposed to turn in some kind of thesis in May, for poetry. A refrain I’m working with is: “Sit still with me, it’s so good. It’s / so good.” Lines that are a little sexy but also welcome everything. Sky, won’t you sit still with me? Bird, sit still with me. Parts of myself that I hate, sit still with me. Person that I might hate, sit still. Let’s look. Let’s be here.

I mean, like someone in one of my classes said, there is no post-pandemic. This is what we have, a world revealed, a lot more horror made clear. I think we are all going to come to realizations about this time and what it revealed about life at different paces, and what we lost of ourselves and what we gained. I want grace so badly for all of this. Maybe it will be strange and be a mess, but I hope there is relief and newness mixed in, too. Three things that give me hope — a geography professor and abolitionist, Keith Miyake, reminded me the labor of making a just world is not a task but is fighting for the people we love. I just needed to hear that.

And Audre Lorde, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, reflected that we must speak up in life for what we know to be true. That silence helps no one. She also has beautiful essays on women and our power and the erotic, where I give myself some space to think about what the male gaze has taken from me in life, what the white gaze has taken from racialized women; those essays are healing me — the permission to stand within my own erotic on my own terms, and to question a world that capitalizes on women’s power in order to make women objectified in frequent and nefarious ways.

And angel kyodo williams says that yes while there can be very skillful change in this world, it’s the changes that are truly transformative that we need, and those start from within. That helps me think about how healing myself and healing my community aren’t separate streams, it’s a very purposeful confluence. It is really good to remind myself of these things.

p.s. I wrote this in two places — Laramie, on a very snowy morning. And in Riverside, California, in a park.”

02/26/2022

COLE // porch portrait series

“The pandemic has really highlighted how lucky I am. I have worked for almost a decade with people experiencing the worst kinds of adversity and continued to do so during the pandemic. I did not lose anyone close to me and I did not get deathly ill myself but I worked with families who not only had to endure Covid, but traumas associated with unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and discrimination. Perspective is a difficult thing to gain, but I feel I’ve been lucky to find it in my life. Covid has been a large part of that.”

02/19/2022

RHIANNA, BENNETT, REECE & FIONA // porch portrait series

“Being a parent during this pandemic has been the hardest chapter of my life thus far. Our son, Reece, was born in March of 2020 just a few weeks before things shut down. Having a toddler and a newborn amidst all the uncertainty of that time was so difficult. It took me to the worst place my mental health has ever been. My husband spent several months working at home, and I decided not to return to my pre-pandemic job. Instead I started my own business, The Nest Toy Library. This pandemic changed the trajectory of our whole life, and now getting back to "normal" feels so daunting. We haven't been a family of four outside of living through a pandemic and it almost feels like I've forgotten what normal life even looks like. Now the biggest challenge feels like processing through the grief associated with everything about the last two years, especially surrounding everything that my kids have missed out on. Reece only knows a life with masks, sanitizer, and social distancing. Bennett's only experience with preschool will have been with all of those measures in place. I'm thankful that those things were and are there to protect their health and the health of others, but I am sad for what they have missed out on. I am so grateful for the support we have found in our friends and family, as well as in the Laramie community. We all look forward to discovering whatever normal life looks like as a family of four sometime soon.” -Rhianna

“Masks keep the germs from me and keep the germs from spreading. When we get to be all done with masks that will be a little bit fun!” - Bennett

02/15/2022

EMILY // porch portrait series

“Covid-19 was in full swing when I moved to Laramie. In fact a lot of the restaurants and businesses were shutting down or had already shut down when I got here. Being from the east coast, I didn't know anyone in Laramie and with all restrictions, life became really lonely. College classes were mostly online or everyone was masked up and separated you might as well be at home. Joining in wasn't really an option and making friends has been nearly impossible. It's been a fairly lonely couple of years. I think that's what has hit me the most, the isolation.”

02/09/2022

EMILY, JOEY & MIKKO // porch portrait series

"The pandemic has seemed to shift my sense of space and time. During its beginning stages, I remember a sense of slowing down and stretching out. We were in Fort Collins at that time. I was supposed to be there for a week for my spring break, then I was supposed to go back to school in Syracuse, New York. We'd take these really long walks around town. My demands as a student and teacher decreased. We knew we were relatively safe and very fortunate in many ways. I remember trying to get away from the sense that I was waiting for something—to accept the uncertainty and the emptied out-ness. I felt a responsibility to not turn away from all of the loss. Now, of course, I think many of us feel torn in different directions. I am back "dividing my time" between Laramie (a beloved place we returned to last summer), Syracuse, and visiting my family in Ohio. There's a sense of speeding up. A demand to return to normalcy. Even to play catch up. I am trying to resist all of this in the ways that I can. I long to stay put, and I think the pandemic, and quarantine in particular, brought out that longing in me." – Emily

“While the pandemic is still an ongoing challenge and has taken so much from so many, I feel drawn to focus on what it has given me. First, my partner who is in a PhD program more than 1,500 miles away was able to spend a whole year with me. I will forever be grateful for that extra time together. Next, I was able to try paragliding, something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to experience. I also began playing pickleball which allowed me to get outside and connect with my community in a time that felt impossible to do so. I began therapy and allowed myself the space to heal, grow, and learn. I started practicing meditation and being present. I spent more time outside. I went back to graduate school to start my path in mental health counseling. I met some of my favorite people. It was a struggle, as an outgoing person, to often feel cooped up, but it also pushed me to change and find new ways to make connections." – Joey

02/05/2022

JOE & DOZER // porch portrait series

“Covid came and there could be no more sitting in The Grounds coffee shop enjoyin a cupa joe!
Covid came and in just a few months I had to go to the ER and have surgery!
Covid came and I was then discharged on oxygen!
Covid came and every little thing changed!
Covid came and killed so many, I cried and cried and cried for humanity!
Covid came and its still here!

After living in Laramie now 9+ years, Covid came and I rejoiced in living in a very unpopulated place; seeing that as a much safer place than any city on the whole planet. My dog Dozer has been at my side, he is the constant that helps me every day! I am Vaccinated and I am here and hope to be here a long time. Have a great day Laramie!”

01/07/2022

Heya Laramie Loves,

Folks have reached out and expressed interest in having their photo taken for this project so it’s official— the Porch Portrait Series is back up and running.

Covid-19 continued to effect our lives throughout 2021. Consider sharing about it and the happenings that have taken place in your lives over the last year or two.

Send a direct message here or email [email protected] to schedule a free photo session.

Here’s to a kinder, healthier, and happier trip around the sun.

💛,
Rose

03/23/2021

Rest In Peace and Love and Music and Laughter, Seth McGee. You represent everything good in this life. Our hearts are broken. Laramie will never be the same.

Seth’s reflection on the year 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic:

“As a person that thrives on and seemingly requires constant social engagement for basic function, it’s been a bizarre change to have that all gone. I’m also a person that rarely allows myself to stop and dwell on things going on for too long and this situation has forced me to do so. There’s been a lot of coming to terms with decisions I’ve made or haven’t and evaluating things that have happened in recent years that I haven’t allowed myself to fully process. I know I don’t have the answers for a lot of things in my life, but I’m finally allowing myself to consider the ones I do.”

We love you.
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

03/09/2021

Energy Board // Take What You Need // Who You Are Is Enough

*I’m still taking portraits. You can still sign up. Some areas of life are moving faster than others is all.

💜

02/20/2021

ERIN & FRANKIE // porch portrait series

“What is there to say others haven't already said better? I'm tired, I'm waiting. I miss you.”

People of Laramie

04/10/2022

03/12/2022

03/05/2022

02/26/2022

02/19/2022

02/15/2022

02/09/2022

02/05/2022

01/07/2022

03/23/2021

03/09/2021

02/20/2021

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