CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) – What started as a casual photo shoot with a friend has become a crusade to help people find the levity in a sometimes complicated world. James Townsend is spreading joy by standing in front of things.

James Townsend stands in front of WOWK-TV in Charleston, WV.

His friend Amanda Fitzwater took the first picture that got it all started. “James and I were just walking around on our lunch hour last week and I took a picture of the logo outside of Super Weenie and he was like ‘take my picture in front of it.'” That picture of Townsend standing was a hit among his Facebook friends. “I put it on my personal page and it got like 150 likes and I was like I should make a page out of this,” he said.

“It seems like in this generation people just need a little bit of the absurd to laugh,” Townsend said. He spent his lunch break Tuesday standing in front of things on Capitol Street.

That is how the “James Standing in Front of Things” Facebook page came to be.

“Social media is all about politics and talking about things and people arguing all of the time,” said Zach Hudnall, Townsend’s friend. “But this is something light hearted and wholesome and just easy to talk about.”

The page has been up about a week now. “James Standing in Front of Things” has just under 300 “likes” so far. It isn’t what would be considered “viral” by any means but his goal is a noble one. “It has brought us all closer together as coworkers and friends,” said Fitzwater. “The world is so serious and so many things are going on this is just a time for people to laugh and carry on.”