Happy Father’s Day!!
The Lenscratch Father’s Day Exhibition celebrates our fathers, our grandfathers, and the fathers of our children: the men who made us who we are. I thank you for sharing your families, your images, and your stories.

Some time ago, I curated a piece on Fraction Magazine (published by father David Bram) about Fathers and Sons. Take a minute to revisit the work of some wonderful image makers who happen to be fathers: Blake Andrews, Timothy Archibald, Bryon Wolfe, Shawn Records, Peter Tonningsen, Tom Leininger, Warren Harold, Shawn Gust, Dennis Chamberlin, Tread, and Todd Deutsch. And don’t forget the work of Phillip Toledano who has created the touching project about his own father, Days with My Father, and humorous work about his experiences as a new father.

THE LENSCRATCH FATHER’S DAY EXHIBITION

Pete Brook, Dad Brook, Lancashire, England

Paris Visone, Dad: John Visone, Dodging the Camera, Boca Raton, FL

Carol Watson, Dad: Phil Brecht, Hockey Night in Canada , Blairmore, Alberta, Canada, “My father suffers from dementia and watching hockey is still one of his favorite rituals that has continued since I was a child.”

Matthew Avignone, Dad: Mike, , Untitled (Dad), from An Unfinished Body, Bourbonnais, IL “For many, when hearing the word “family” brings other words to mind; mom, dad, brothers, sisters, love and birth. But what if you were flown into your mother and father’s arms not by a stork but by a Boeing 747. My siblings and I were all adopted across the pacific from the countries India and South Korea, we came from foster mothers and lonely orphanages to parents and a little home in Illinois, some of us healthy and some with life-inhibiting special needs ranging from neurofibromatosis to spina bifida. For the past two years I have been returning home from my absence at school to turn my camera inward on my siblings and parents swapping the roles traditionally held by the heads of the household. As a son I am interested in documenting our lives from the significant, such as a first birth, to the banality of my brother after his shower. For at one time we might have all been strangers, but with time, love and perseverance we are fortunate to call ourselves a family as one.”

Mark Tanner, Dad: Cliff Tanner, Camp Meal, Dad and Mark, New Mexico

Sara Jane Boyers, Dad: Jonas Ziering, Detroit, MI 1940s, “My father the polo player, the patriarch of three generations on horseback and polo.”

Verner Soler, Dad: Johann Soler, Dad with walking stick, Vanescha, Switzerland

Linda Morrow, Dad: Dowell McAllister, Phoenix, AZ “My father, 1905-1985; still alive in my heart.”

Ashly Stohl, Grandfather: Len Leonard, Sharon and Len Leonard, Somewhere in New York, August 7, 1938 “I was raised by my grandparents, so on father’s day, my grandfather is the one I think of. These pictures from my grandparents’ wedding day were always side by side in the photo album. It sums up my grandfather perfectly – he loved my grandmother, and for fun he let her push him around a little.”

Mary Quin, Breakfast with Poppy, Bay St. Louis, MS

Sarah Pollman, Dad: Michael Pollman, Londonderry, NH

Michael Kirchoff, Dad: Howard Kirchoff, Rosemead, California “I’m pretty sure his reaction in this photo is in direct relation to something I was up to….”

Amy Schireson, Grandfather: Max Leo, at the Taj Mahal “World traveler, charmer”

Jane S. Noel, Dad: R.M. Stuart , 2009, “My grandmother would have sewn these name tags into my Dad’s clothes in WWII. “

Samantha Watkins, Dad: Bill Watkins, Vernon, BC, Passed away September 12, 2009

Anne Berry, Dad: Frank Jarrell, Atlanta, GA “Frank Jarrell with his goat hitched to his sulky. “Billy” was gruff, and he had a tendency to balk.”

Lisa Callamaro, Dad: John Callamaro, An Officer and a Gentleman, A Navy Base, 1960ish…

Sarah Hadley, Dad: Rollin “Bump” Hadley, Trying to find my father, Venice, Italy

Scott Patrick Myers, Dad: Larry Myers, Dad’s Ashes, “This is a photograph of my Dad’s ashes being spread on his farm in Queen City, Missouri.”

Laura Pickett Calfee, Dad: Ben Pickett, “This is my dad, Ben Pickett, on a roadtrip from Texas to California in the 1930s along with his brothers. They met these aspiring starlets at a dude ranch along the way. Dad’s the one in the boots.”

Wentzu Chang, Fatherhood, Lars with his son Mika, and their friends, Encino, California

Robin Odland, Dad: Rollin, Pondering 80 years, Stoughton, WI

Vicky Slater, Dad: Paul Martienssen, Spain, 1963 “This was taken by my grandfather. My mum, pregnant with my younger sister, my dad, so stylish, and my grandmother in emerald. In later years I used to borrow that cardi of my dad’s, classics never go out of fashion.”

Crista Dix, Dad: Jim Ward, “attached is a shot of my parents. They celebrate 53 years of marriage on June 21st. My father is my Superman. But this photo shows he is also our family’s Superman. This image was taken on a family trip at Kalaloch, Washington 97 or 98.”

Marjorie Salvaterra, Daddy & O, Venice, CA

Erin McGuire, Dad: Floyd McGuire, Victor Valley, CA earlier this year with my large format Crown Graphic and T55 film.

C. Gary Moyer, Dad:C. Gary Moyer Sr., Pottstown, PA

Scott Amrhein, Dad: Cliff Amrhein, In the Punishment Stocks, Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, MI

Chandler Bowser, Dad: Floyd Brooks Bowser, St. Louis in February, 1981

Warren Harold, Dad: Owen Harold, Deer Park, Tx “Proof there was a funny side to my dad, and yes, I still have that snake.”

Wesley Phillips, Dad: Fred B. Phillips, 1944/45 Army Photo

Noelle Swan Gilbert, Dad: David A. Swan, MD, Seattle, Washington, David A. Swan, MD, Seattle, Washington, “Tommy can’t stop laughing when he hears the funny stories my father tells him about his mother, my father’s beloved daughter and the mommy Tommy can’t remember. “

Helen Jones, Dad: Alan Jones, My Mother and Father, Brattleboro, Vermont, slide: somewhere in Arizona

Marla Bane, Dad: Sylvan Bane, Boardwalk Altantic City, NY, Circa 1930’s

Sylvan Bane – Office at Miles Shoes 1953

Bear Kirkpatrick, Dad: Charles Kirkpatrick, They Rained It Down On Us, Sugarland Key, Florida “My father was a bronze star winning combat veteran from the Vietnam war; the title of this photo was taken from a conversation I had with him about the common drenchings of the herbicide Agent Orange he and his men suffered.”

Andi Schreiber, Dad: Stan, 2009, Boca Raton, Florida

Daniel Porter, Dad: Bernard, Wiltshire, England

Laurie McCormick, Dad: Ed McCormick
Ed McCormick with my 3 older brothers; Yonkers, NY (1949)

Ed McCormick

Ed McCormick nearing the end; Yonkers, NY (1985)

Philip Bowser, Dad: Floyd B. Bowser, Dad, circa 1975 (scanned from an old family photo and cropped), “most likely lock and dam #21 on the Mississippi river near Quincy, Missouri. I was living in Iowa City and my folks were living in St. Louis, so Hannibal and environs made a good half-way meeting point.”

Carrie Crow, A Change in the Weather, 2011, La Verne/NYC

Bill Vaccaro, Dad: Joe Vaccaro, Father and son (me), Buffalo, NY. 1950

Christa Carceo, Dad: Bob, Methuen, MA

Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin, Dad: Frank Anthony Laraia, Chicago, IL He’s a proud Chicagoan and loves his paper. He’s always smiling.

Donna Rosser, Dad: Donald King, Photo taken by my mother — my Dad (Donald King) and I on a trip to Jamestown.

Dan Shepherd, Dad: Ray Shepherd, I Have my Dad’s Hands, Los Angeles, CA

Randy Magnus, Dad (Floyd Magnus) with Goose, 1990, Escalon, CA He always had a flock of geese around the house to eat the bugs and to serve as an alarm system…..

Jess T. Dugan, Dad with his shotgun, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009

Jim Marx, Dad: Dick Marx, For the Record, Los Angeles, CA During the early fifties, my father played Jazz Piano in night clubs (New York, Chicago, Las Vegas) he also recorded several albums, these are four of the covers.

Erin Malone, Dad: Richard F. Malone, Germany, 1965 This is a favorite image of my father reading me a story when I was about 2 or so and my dad was only 25.

Josephine Close, Dad: Hal Close, Harrisville, New Hampshire

Sue Jenkins, Husband and Father: Phil Jenkins, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Loretta Ayeroff, Dad: Samuel Jerome Ayeroff, Samuel Jerome Ayeroff and Loretta Ayeroff, Los Angeles, California, c.1952 Everyone loved him – I miss my dad every day.

Constantin Nimigean, Dad: Ioan, Bucharest, living-room of the old apartment

Christy Karpinski, Dad: Richard Karpinski,
Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico

Sharon Johnson-Tennant, Grandpa Bruce, Block Island, RI

Bea Fresno, Dad: Captain Dominguez, Mar del Plata, Argentina, He was most of his life at the high seas but he always came back with amazing stories and exotic presents. My dad, a tireless seeker, who taught me that everything could be improved.

Christopher Mellevold, My father. My son., Huntington Beach, CA

Paul Knox, “The image was captured in the zocalo in Mexico City and shows a father begging for money to pay for urgent medical treatment for his sick daughter.”

Mark Eaton, Father and Son, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do, South Korea “My own father died several years ago, and, unfortunately, all photographs of my father are not yet here with me in the country where I now reside, South Korea. This father-son team that I photographed ran the Suncheon Marathon together.”

Donna Scholl,Dad: Charles Scholl, “Don’t know who took this photo, but I just adore this image of my dad — ever the backyard chef! — trying out his brand new electric rotisserie grill.” Location: Wilmette, IL

Jim Robertson, Dad: Bill Robertson, Lexington, KY “My dear father’s indomitable spirit shines through the day after open heart surgery, something I needed as much as he did.”

Maryanne Gobble, her son’s Dad: Josh Gobble, Good News, Longview, TX

Jon Kersey, Dad: John Kersey, “Father From Another Planet”, El Monte, California

Sofia Silva, Dad: João Gaspar, Year 18, from the series “10227 days of lost affection”, Moitalina, Portugal

Daniel Colavito, Dad, 10 Years After, Philadelphia, PA

Annie Claflin, Dad: Tim Claflin, Dad Reading The Paper, Pomfret, Vermont

Ken Rosenthal, Dad: S.H. Rosenthal Jr., Arizona

Troy Hoffman, Dad: Haldon Lee Hoffman, Gibsonburg, OH “This photograph is a part of a series titled “Identity” which deals with the loss of my father and trying to capture his identity through self-portraits.”

Neil Phillips, Dad: Neil, Dad’s Girl, Chalfont St Peter, England

James Friedman, Dad: Allen E. Friedman, Pop’s War Department Identification Card, Location: Unknown, “My Pop was 22 years old when this ID was made.”

Consuelo Mendez, Dad: Sixto Mendez, portrait of Sixto fishing, Platonia, Texas

Noah Friedman, David. Shady Grove Hospital, Potomac, MD, “This was taken while I was in the emergency room at Shady Grove Hospital at around 3.00 AM after waking up my parents out of my own hypochondria.”

Michael Younker, Dad: Dave, I’m not an Ohio State fan, Tucson, AZ

Alexis Clements, In The Sand, Denver, CO “My father’s ashes with a childhood photo of him at the beach, June 18th marks ten years since my father loss his life to cancer at the age of 39.”

Erica Martin, Dad: Arthur Martin, 1930 – 2009. Image shot around 1948 – 1950 in New York, dancing for the ballet. My father was a dancer, a street brawler, an attorney, a whiskey drinker, a reader, a raconteur, an adventurer, a New York Times crossword puzzle doer, and my hero.

Robbie Kaye, Dad: Howard W. Kreinces, A Father’s Hug on Dad’s 80th Birthday, New York, NY

Aline Smithson, Dad: Alfred Freeman Smithson, somewhere in Arizona

Father of our children and my wonderful husband: Harry Steinway, Killington, Vermont