SIX FEET APART

I first met Mary Peffer in the Spring of 2018. At the time, Mary acted as Vice President of marketing and brand creative for J. Brand Jeans. In other words, she made big-time decisions for a big-time brand. Armed with my LEICA MP240 camera, I greeted Mary in a small Silverlake cafe, with the hope she would be open to collaborating with me as a photographer, rather than my typical role as subject. While others had a difficult time picturing me behind the camera rather than in front of it, Mary stood out as the exception. She didn’t blink when I sheepishly disclosed my newfound passion for photography. Instead, her response was: “Great! What shall we do?” We ended up working on a beautiful project together and that collaboration remains a creative highlight in my career.

A few weeks ago, Mary reached out to me; this time, with a project all her own. During the COVID-19 lockdown, she has decided to photograph women in their own Los Angeles homes, from a safe distance and often through glass. Would I like to be included in the project as her subject? Without blinking, I said yes. Using a variety of film cameras, the result is a stunningly still and visually poetic series titled: SIX FEET APART. I will always remember Mary approaching my home, cloaked in black to diminish her own reflection, wearing a mask and gloves, slinking like some other worldly creature. Her photographs reveal what I love so very much about art and artists, especially during historically challenging times. Finger on the trigger, observing the moment’s pulse, Mary captures the beauty within the aching, lonely, hard parts. And the elements that make us all so exceptionally connected in our humanity. An eye, the focus, a click.

Hope.

Below, please read Mary’s insightful interview for KIND.EST and explore select images from her shelter-in-place portrait series: SIX FEET APART. 

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD?

I am a Los Angeles-based photographer and writer. Following a career in New York City, where I worked under Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent, I moved to California and became Vice President of Global Marketing at denim brands J BRAND and RE/DONE.

HOW DID YOU GET HERE?

When whispers of the word “pandemic” first began, I was leaving my home for the airport to catch a flight to Paris fashion week, where I was hosting an event. It was cancelled. Then in a matter of days, our office was home bound. Suddenly I was furloughed. Leveled, I got in my car and drove aimlessly for a bit in the rain and ended up outside my brother’s house. I moved to LA from NYC 7 years ago; in part, to be closer to him. Since then, I have spent my time helping myself to his hugs, fridge, and company as I pleased. He’s in the medical field, and when I arrived, he waved to me through the glass of his front window; pointing to masks and gloves he’d bought for me and had stowed in biohazard bags in his mailbox. My heart flooded with emotion. It struck me that this feeling of new boundaries was something we would all soon be adjusting to. The project was instinctual. I didn’t intellectualize it too much, other than it felt important to document this unique moment in time. Could our sameness comfort and unify us? The next day, I shared my idea to shoot different female creatives I knew and admired, wherever they were sheltering in place safely, responsibly, through glass windows and doors. Thankfully, a lot of them liked my idea. 

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT TITLED? WHAT ARE THE TOOL(S) YOU USED TO CREATE IT?

The shelter in place portrait series is called “Six Feet Apart.” I collect vintage 90’s film cameras from Japan, and I shot everything across four different models. They each have their own quirk I love. One sheds a really cool kind of messy light flare in reds and purples that kind of speaks to the internal chaos of this moment, while another casts a soft warm feminine glow on every image; symbolizing hope and perseverance.

WHAT MAKES THE PROJECT KIND?

Each woman who carved time in their day showed incredible kindness towards me and their craft. I’m a voyeur. It’s intoxicating to be invited inside, to see how individuals who inspire us have been kind to themselves during such a unique time. How they evolved and accustomed themselves to change. 

HOW HAS THE PROJECT SURPRISED YOU?

I actually expected a lot less positivity. I thought, hey, I’ll shoot at least half of the people eating junk food in bed, because let’s face it, pandemic life isn’t easy even when you’re super blessed. But everyone seemed genuinely thrilled to interact with another person, even through glass, gloves, and a mask. To have a reason to get out of soft pants. I left each shoot more open to the subtleties in life, feeling motivated to create, and I felt grateful to those who had shared their intimate experiences with me. From a woman who couldn’t fly back to Europe, to what was meant to be a brief trip to the States, to another who had just gotten out of rehab. 

A HIGHLIGHT? 

Being reunited with you! Kate, you’ve been an incredibly gracious, positive, wise, and supportive force in my life since we met during the release of your beautiful film, Nona, and through your work with CAST Los Angeles. I’m lucky to know you. 

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF WITHIN THIS PROCESS?  

Sometimes a forced pause, however difficult it is to accept and navigate, slows you down so you can be yourself. I’ve realized through this process that the most fulfilling thing for me is creating. I’m an opinionated introvert. Art, whether it be writing or photography, is how I express what’s going on inside. How I feel. How I communicate to others. And in crisis, it’s become how I cope. Just because powerful people say you’re good at other things, and present opportunities that may come easier, doesn’t mean that path will drum up something in your soul. Ya know? 

WHAT HAVE YOU OBSERVED IN OTHERS?

Beauty. It’s what I’m always trying to spot and capture through photos and words. Outward beauty, sure, but also warmth, gratitude, difference, and patience. People, when they are being themselves, not trying to fit in or impress. Oddities that make someone special … really have their time to shine in quarantine. 

ANY CONSCIOUS TRANSFORMATION OF SELF OR SUBJECTS AS TIME GOES ON IN QUARANTINE?

Mental health is crucial. The pressure I put on myself to be productive has let up a bit. Pre-quarantine, my boyfriend was always telling me to be easier on myself because I was following a tremendously regimented self-imposed schedule. Which helped define my career path and offered a sense of accomplishment for me. I’m still busy, but it’s a gentler process. I’m writing a manuscript most days, in between shoots, but I also allow time for days off now. I take walks in my neighborhood, where I wave at the neighborhood dogs from a distance, and call old friends to catch up. Time feels more present and less rushed. 

WHEN WERE YOU ESTABLISHED KIND?

Oh man ... I’m still very much a work in progress.