Neil Kramer is dealing with social isolation a lot like like the rest of us. Humor feels safe, a place where we can momentarily hide away from an ongoing pandemic. Kramer, a New York based photographer, is currently isolated in Queens, which is mega hotspot for the virus. He’s seen it all一from blaring ambulances to a death in his apartment complex一 but to make matters even stranger, he is currently quarantined with his ex wife, Sophia, and his 86 year-old mother. In a quaint two bedroom, one bathroom apartment, Kramer has been coping the one way he knows how: photography.

Since his mother is at-risk as a senior citizen, Kramer and his ex-wife Sophia have been making very sparse trips to the grocery store. For those of us quarantined with family, or perhaps an ex-wife, home can start to feel small very quickly. Seeing an opportunity to share this feeling with others, Kramer decided to capture the house in all of its cabin fever glory. The scenes are so deeply relatable, even though they show moments of unadulterated chaos. Kramer shows the crew fighting for space as he takes a bubble bath, one of the women shaving her legs beside him, while the other hands him a phone. He takes a mirror selfie of them sandwiched on a bed, watching the news unfold on television. The viewer can’t help but feel the invasion of space, and it only progresses from there. In one photo, Kramer’s mother watches as his ex-wife and him tackle each other to the ground.

“Like many other photographers, we do what we do naturally, and that is to take photos. While many of my photos are documentary in style, the ones that express the most realism of the situation are ironically, staged.”

— Neil Kramer

The crowning moment of Kramer’s quarantine photography features the household item of the year: toilet paper. Sprawled out, completely nude, he stacks rolls of toilet paper into a pyramid shape on the coffee table. Sophia enters the frame from the left, carrying a few more rolls to add to the sculpture. The mother, perched on the couch to the right, can be seen with her head thrown back taking a swig of liquor. The only thing you can do when looking through these images is smile.

“Sometimes humor is the only way to stay sane,” Kramer says. In a situation that couldn’t be more difficult, laughter can be one of the best ways to create some ease. The more time people spend indoors, the more they turn towards lighthearted subject matter to stay afloat. Neil Kramer, in between days reserved for toilet paper architecture, will surely keep us updated on the happenings in his Queens apartment. We are eager to see which bottle of liquor his mother chooses next.

You can keep up to date with Neil Kramer’s Instagram here.