People are spending hundreds of dollars on 'quarantine shoots' where they have their picture taken through a window

Sophie-Claire HoellerMay 8, 2020, 03:33 IST

Dexter.Caroline White Photography

LA-based photographer, Caroline White, spent much of the last decade traveling to shoot clients.
Once the pandemic hit and California went on lockdown, her business struggled.
She got creative and pivoted to take pandemic portraits of sorts, capturing her clients through windows.
Now, she's getting hired by people all over LA who want to document their time under lockdown.
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Caroline White has been a highly sought-after personal branding photographer for over a decade, traveling around the world to shoot a long list of clients. Recently, however, the LA-based photographer started feeling the need for a change, a hunger for more authenticity and depth.

Little did she know that a global pandemic would help her turn her work on its head.

White says that she hasn't been in one place for this long in years, but that slowing down has been good for her. Using lockdown productively, she has pivoted her business to sell prints and do "quarantine shoots" of people through their windows. In the last few weeks, White has been hired to do about a half dozen of these pandemic portraits, her rate being between $400 and $1,000 a shoot.

"Honestly, this little project has been my saving grace, giving me a sense of creativity, connection, purpose, and much-needed accountability," she told Insider.

From a man who wanted photos for his fiancée stuck overseas to a DJ performing a set on Instagram live, keep scrolling to see White's latest work.

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"I was a perfectionist for a long time, you know, and this really is the perfect excuse to throw perfection out the window," she joked.

Actress and filmmaker Kandis Fay and daughter, Atwater Village. Caroline White Photography

However, she adds that window shoots have also really helped her connect with her subjects: As long as they're fully sealed, she says she gets physically closer to her clients than before.

Ruby. Caroline White Photography

However, she adds that window shoots have also really helped her connect with her subjects: As long as they're fully sealed, she says she gets physically closer to her clients than before.

"Everyone instinctively asks me if I would like water or wine or to use the bathroom, which has been so lovely to hear, but of course I must decline these somewhat automatic invitations," she said.

Dexter. Caroline White Photography

"Everyone instinctively asks me if I would like water or wine or to use the bathroom, which has been so lovely to hear, but of course I must decline these somewhat automatic invitations," she said.

She says giving directions by phone is surreal. "Seeing someone face-to-face but hearing their voice with a delay, just slightly out of sync with reality, it's a bit eerie. But so is everything right now," she said.

Kanter. Caroline White Photography

She says giving directions by phone is surreal. "Seeing someone face-to-face but hearing their voice with a delay, just slightly out of sync with reality, it's a bit eerie. But so is everything right now," she said.

She then shows up with all of her equipment, and either yells instructions if the window is thin enough, or issues them by phone.

Nick. Caroline White Photography

She usually asks clients to have one light outfit and one dark outfit ready, and to keep it simple since "it is hard to focus on something through a window."

Writer and filmmaker Kate Marshall and writer and director A.D.Freese, Atwater village Caroline White Photography

"I'm finding it easy to kind of do the same thing over and over [through glass], so I'm trying to find what's unique about each window, about each person," she said.

Fi and Jane. Caroline White Photography

When she's hired for a quarantine shoot, she'll ask clients to give her a virtual tour of their place to figure out where to photograph them, whether to move furniture, and what time of day will be best.

Actor and carpenter George Whyne Cranford, Echo Park. Caroline White Photography

When she's hired for a quarantine shoot, she'll ask clients to give her a virtual tour of their place to figure out where to photograph them, whether to move furniture, and what time of day will be best.

"I noticed a totally different style and mood emerging that was completely different from my previous work that was so happy and colorful," she said.

Nick. Caroline White Photography

So she decided to practice photographing people through windows — which is difficult due to reflections — and started putting together a "quarantine portfolio" by shooting friends and neighbors.

Dexter. Caroline White Photography

So she decided to practice photographing people through windows — which is difficult due to reflections — and started putting together a "quarantine portfolio" by shooting friends and neighbors.

"I used to love photographing my clients through gorgeous hotel and café windows. I always thought that that look was sort of dreamy and voyeuristic," she said.

Pre-pandemic photos of clients White took through glass. Caroline White Photography

The success of her online store inspired another idea: taking portraits through windows.

Robert. Caroline White Photography

"I started to freak out about money and I thought, 'you know, I'm way better off than most people,'" she said. "And a good way to remind myself of that is to do something to give back."

Kanter. Caroline White Photography

"I started to freak out about money and I thought, 'you know, I'm way better off than most people,'" she said. "And a good way to remind myself of that is to do something to give back."

She started selling some of her prints online, though she initially donated all of the proceeds to the LA food bank.

Dexter. Caroline White Photography

When she realized she wouldn't make rent, she panicked: "When I panic, I hustle. I eat a lot of potato chips, I eat a lot of chocolate, I freak out, and then I get to work," she said.

Danielle. Caroline White Photography

When she realized she wouldn't make rent, she panicked: "When I panic, I hustle. I eat a lot of potato chips, I eat a lot of chocolate, I freak out, and then I get to work," she said.

White estimates that 80% of her business was dependent on either her getting on a plane or people getting on a plane to come to her. Once the pandemic hit and California went on lockdown, her business struggled.

Fi. Caroline White Photography

White estimates that 80% of her business was dependent on either her getting on a plane or people getting on a plane to come to her. Once the pandemic hit and California went on lockdown, her business struggled.

The former actress is a self-taught photographer, having been drawn to the job by the legacy of her great aunt, the famous photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White.

Jeremy. Caroline White Photography

"We sort of extract what the visual brand is based on their personal style, their taste, their clients, their industry," she said.

Actor and carpenter George Whyne Cranford, Echo Park. Caroline White Photography

She says that she usually does a deep dive into a person's life and business before shooting them.

Actress and filmmaker Kandis Fay and daughter, Atwater Village. Caroline White Photography

She describes personal branding photography as "like a head shot, but zoomed back and more about a person in a place. It's showing somebody's lifestyle, their personality."

Kanter and Lulu. Caroline White Photography

She describes personal branding photography as "like a head shot, but zoomed back and more about a person in a place. It's showing somebody's lifestyle, their personality."

Photographer Caroline White says that most of her clients have been speakers, authors, and life coaches, and that her work has traditionally been "very positive, very bright, very commercial."

Nick. Caroline White Photography

Photographer Caroline White says that most of her clients have been speakers, authors, and life coaches, and that her work has traditionally been "very positive, very bright, very commercial."

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People are spending hundreds of dollars on 'quarantine shoots' where they have their picture taken through a window

"I was a perfectionist for a long time, you know, and this really is the perfect excuse to throw perfection out the window," she joked.

However, she adds that window shoots have also really helped her connect with her subjects: As long as they're fully sealed, she says she gets physically closer to her clients than before.

"Everyone instinctively asks me if I would like water or wine or to use the bathroom, which has been so lovely to hear, but of course I must decline these somewhat automatic invitations," she said.

She says giving directions by phone is surreal. "Seeing someone face-to-face but hearing their voice with a delay, just slightly out of sync with reality, it's a bit eerie. But so is everything right now," she said.

She then shows up with all of her equipment, and either yells instructions if the window is thin enough, or issues them by phone.

She usually asks clients to have one light outfit and one dark outfit ready, and to keep it simple since "it is hard to focus on something through a window."

"I'm finding it easy to kind of do the same thing over and over [through glass], so I'm trying to find what's unique about each window, about each person," she said.

When she's hired for a quarantine shoot, she'll ask clients to give her a virtual tour of their place to figure out where to photograph them, whether to move furniture, and what time of day will be best.

"I noticed a totally different style and mood emerging that was completely different from my previous work that was so happy and colorful," she said.

So she decided to practice photographing people through windows — which is difficult due to reflections — and started putting together a "quarantine portfolio" by shooting friends and neighbors.

"I used to love photographing my clients through gorgeous hotel and café windows. I always thought that that look was sort of dreamy and voyeuristic," she said.

The success of her online store inspired another idea: taking portraits through windows.

"I started to freak out about money and I thought, 'you know, I'm way better off than most people,'" she said. "And a good way to remind myself of that is to do something to give back."

She started selling some of her prints online, though she initially donated all of the proceeds to the LA food bank.

When she realized she wouldn't make rent, she panicked: "When I panic, I hustle. I eat a lot of potato chips, I eat a lot of chocolate, I freak out, and then I get to work," she said.

White estimates that 80% of her business was dependent on either her getting on a plane or people getting on a plane to come to her. Once the pandemic hit and California went on lockdown, her business struggled.

The former actress is a self-taught photographer, having been drawn to the job by the legacy of her great aunt, the famous photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White.

"We sort of extract what the visual brand is based on their personal style, their taste, their clients, their industry," she said.

She says that she usually does a deep dive into a person's life and business before shooting them.

She describes personal branding photography as "like a head shot, but zoomed back and more about a person in a place. It's showing somebody's lifestyle, their personality."

Photographer Caroline White says that most of her clients have been speakers, authors, and life coaches, and that her work has traditionally been "very positive, very bright, very commercial."