Jussara Rowland, ICS-ULisboa
Rita Correia, ICS-ULisboa
“Although the camera is an observation station, the act of photographing is more than passive observing (…) it is a way of at least tacitly, often explicitly, encouraging whatever is going on to keep on happening.”
Susan Sontag, On Photography
When Swedish photographer Johan Bävman took a long paternity leave to be at home with his son, he discovered that he had no one he could relate to in spite living in the most equal country in terms of parental leave. So, he decided to take a series of photos of fathers who have chosen to stay at home with their child for at least six months. His goals were multiple: to understand who those fathers were – their expectations, motivations –, to show the impact of the experience of taking time off to be home with their child had on both, and to inspire other fathers by presenting positive, but “not perfect” role-models.
The collection of photos captured moments of everyday life of dads taking care of their kids. The resulting award-winning exhibition has been showed in more than one hundred countries around the world (Thailand, Kenia, Uganda, Argentina, Croatia, Portugal, among others), and it has been often associated with the promotion of initiatives that encourage local fathers to participate with photos of their lives with their children and to become “caring male role models” in their own countries.
Opening of the Exhibition “Swedish Dads”. Photo: UNESCO/Christelle ALIX
Life 