Steve Myaskovsky reflects on photographing from a distance

Like many other people at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Valley Stream resident Steve Myaskovsky’s professional career was impacted. He then tried making the best of his tough situation by attempting to bring smiles to other peoples faces. 

Myaskovsky, a professional photographer for 15 years, began a photography series in March called “Six Feet of Separation.” From a distance, he would photograph families in front of their homes during the pandemic. Myaskovsky said he came up with the “Six Feet of Separation” project as a way to continue taking photos of families despite the pandemic constraints.

“With the stay at home order in place, as everyone else, I was stuck at home with no face-to-face social interactions outside of my wife and my three boys,” he said. “Being stuck at home hit me not only on a personal level, but also a professional level. As a professional event and family photographer, all of my shoots were put on hold indefinitely, I was missing taking photos.”

Roughly 75 families across the Five Towns and Valley Stream were photographed during the project and Myaskovsky hopes that he was able to create a good memory for families during the pandemic.

“As the project progressed I was surprised by the overwhelming response from the families, just being able to be out of sweatpants and to dress up again for the family picture,” he said. “It made families feel somewhat normal again and to forget for a moment that we as a world were in the midst of the unprecedented pandemic.”

Leslie Gang is the co-founder of Hindi’s Libraries. Her family was one of the 75 that were photographed. She described the project as being a “wonderful initiative.” “Steve provided us with such a meaningful photographic snapshot that captured this strange moment in time,” Gang said. “He helped remind us that, above all, family is most important and we should remember how fortunate we are to have each other.”

Nicole Eliopoulos is Myaskovsky’s neighbor. She noted that even before the pandemic, Myaskovsky has always given back to the community. “I’m a co-president of the PTA at Ogden Elementary and anytime I ask Steve to come photograph a school event, he comes,” Eliopoulos said. “At our holiday light show in December, he was on a step ladder the entire night taking pictures with a big smile on his face. I love the fact that he enjoys the events as much as the kids do.”

Myaskovsky has two sons in first and fourth grade at Ogden and his oldest son attends Woodmere Middle School. He talked about the joy he gets in photographing the school events. “With kids, it’s great to photograph them because they always have a natural smile,” he said. “My children feel proud to see me at the school events. It feels great when your children are proud of you.”

The hope for Myaskovsky is that he was able to bring joy to people during a tough time. “Looking back at the project, I realize that the silver lining of this pandemic is that it brought many families and communities closer together,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to document this in the “Six Feet of Separation” project for many families.”

Myaskovsky is available for event and family photography in the Long Island and New York City areas. He can be reached via email at: stevemya@gmail.com.