Photographer captures pics of what's been missing during the pandemic

With masks covering the faces of people walking down streets, through grocery store aisles and passing by their coworkers, one key detail seems to be missing from the human experience during the days of the pandemic -- smiles.

Laura Fuchs has been a street photographer in New York City for 10 years. Throughout her time as a photographer, she has searched for different ways to capture slices of everyday life. Her latest project is no exception.

Her latest photo project, which she calls "Mask Smile," features photos of health care workers, construction workers, children, couples and people from all walks of life wearing a mask or face covering and smiling.

Fuchs told AccuWeather that the idea of capturing people smiling through the masks came to her when she realized people were smiling less now that no one could see their mouths.

"I was noticing that people weren't making eye contact nearly as much, nor were they smiling," she said in a recent interview with AccuWeather's video producer Taliya Riesterer. "And I wanted to encourage people to continue to smile."

(Laura Fuchs / @laurasfuchs)

Fuchs has spent the rainy and cold days in New York social distancing at home, but when the sun comes out, so does her camera. Not only are there more people out to photograph, but she said the sun brings out brighter smiles from underneath the masks as well.

"I think the sun matches with peoples' moods," Fuchs said.

Being based in New York City, Fuchs is limited in the smiles she gets to see, so she has started an Instagram account called @masksmiles for people all over the world to submit photos of their own masked smiles.

"I wanted to encourage people that I can in fact still see your smile when you're wearing a mask," Fuchs said. "So much of a smile is not necessarily in the mouth -- it's in the eyes and in the cheekbones."

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While COVID-19 may have led to the inspiration for her latest photo series, the virus has also impacted her line of work -- as it has for many other Americans as well.

"I get lots of different responses when I ask people to take their picture," she said. "I get rejected certainly a lot more than I normally do while doing street photography, which may make a lot of sense."

(Laura Fuchs / @laurasfuchs)

"I think it's a time where people are scared," Fuchs said. "It's certainly not always a time for smiling for everyone. People are grieving the loss of loved ones, some people are going home to take care of someone sick and it certainly doesn't feel like a time to smile. But I do think that it's important to encourage people that you know, if we're alive we should live."

Fuchs has experienced many "amazing" moments among the times she's told "no," however. She recalled one moment where after a long day of no after no, a group of people on messenger bikes allowed her to take photos -- both individually and as a group. She told the group how much it meant to her to receive a yes after so many rejections, to which one man in the group stepped up to reassure her to continue.

"One of them said, 'Miss, Miss, don't worry. People are scared, people are scared.' And he continued to tell me that his interactions with people delivering food wasn't necessarily always positive. People were afraid; they wanted to drop the money. But that interaction was a particularly, particularly good one," Fuchs said.

(Laura Fuchs / @laurasfuchs)

The need for social distancing has hindered Fuchs' ability to connect deeper with the subjects of her photos, she said, but she has also missed out on photographing some of her favorite subjects.

"Once we get through this pandemic, I think the first thing I want to photograph is my family," she said. "I can't wait to see my family."

Reporting by AccuWeather Video Producer Taliya Riesterer.

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