Francesca Magnani's 'On the Stoop' Documents Brooklyn Life During Lockdown

During New York's COVID-19 lockdown, Italian photographer Francesca Magnani, based in Brooklyn since 1997, began documenting the stoops of brownstone houses in Boerum Hill. She observed that these transitional architectural elements—neither fully inside nor outside—became vital social spaces during forced isolation, akin to Italian balconies. Her ongoing series 'On the Stoop' captures residents sitting on their stoops in socks or barefoot, reading, eating, working from home, or chatting with friends at a safe distance of six feet. Magnani, who usually photographs street life, found the stoop to be a stage for semi-public, semi-private scenes. She noted a coincidence: Jonathan Lethem's novel 'The Fortress of Solitude' is set on Dean Street, where she began her project. The Italian translation of the book uses 'veranda' for stoop, which Magnani found amusing. With the lockdown extended another month and temperatures rising, she expects stoop usage to increase. She updates her work daily on Instagram @magnanina.