Father to Son

My documentary photo project “Father to Son” explores the intense, complex and evolving relationship between my husband and our oldest son. The connection between them is fluid and under construction. I am interested in what it feels like to be the parent, and in what it feels like to be the child. Just as my husband learns about being a father through the act of parenting, I learn about their relationship through the act of taking pictures. The photographs are a subjective testament to what I think is true, and also a method of discovery. Parenting is a mix of simultaneous and intense opposites: love and frustration, joy and duty, play and discipline, closeness and separation. Togetherness and opposition can happen at the same time. Both father and son have their own unique thoughts and emotions, and may have different experiences of the same situation. They are not always aware of each other's perspective, or how their actions affect each other. Sometimes they don’t see how similar they are. Other photographers have mined the domestic landscape, creating interesting and relevant work: Elinor Carucci, Sally Mann, Julie Blackmon and Jessica Todd Harper, to name a few. What I want to bring to the conversation is an examination of how the father-son relationship takes shape. This influential bond forms slowly, a little bit at a time. Everyday parent-child interactions are more meaningful than even the participants realize.