Photographer on wheels CAPTURING FACES OF LOCKDOWN

Happy snapper Diana got creative and took her camera to the people, leaving happy memories wherever she went

- Cloe Willetts

While most Kiwis used their one hour of daily exercise during this year’s level 4 lockdown to walk the dog or run at their local beach, Aucklander Diana Sanders pedalled circuits on her bicycle with a camera around her neck.

The professional portrait photographer, who stopped outside people’s homes to capture them with shaggy hair, tired smiles and the odd mask, was fundraising for a very good cause with her Front Door Project.

Glendowie local Diana, 37, photographed 70 families during lockdown and raised almost $3000 for Give a Kid a Blanket, an Auckland charity that gifts food and objects of warmth to people affected by poverty.

“Front door photography became quite popular overseas with the first lockdown, and I started doing it here in Auckland last year and my community loved it,” tells Diana, who shares kids Darby, eight, Franklin, six, and Louella, three, with food trader husband Tom, 37.

“I put it out on a community Facebook page saying I was going to take photos on my daily bike ride and if anyone wanted one taken at their front door, I could put them on my list and in return they would give a donation. Then they got one edited professional photo.”