instagram: Real Father Figures with @zunleephoto Zun’s exhibition Father Figure: Exploring Alt
instagram: Real Father Figures with @zunleephoto Zun’s exhibition Father Figure: Exploring Alternate Notions of Black Fatherhood will be on display at the BAND Gallery in Toronto, Canada until April 2, 2015. To see more of his images, follow @zunleephoto on Instagram. The Father Figure project by Zun Lee (@zunleephoto) came about as the result of Zun’s examination of his own personal history, his desire to confront stereotypes and to show the reality of life for everyday dads. A Toronto-based healthcare consultant by trade, Zun uses photography to document the lives of African-American men and their children. When he was in his mid-30s, Zun’s mother revealed that his biological father was an African-American man who had left when she was pregnant. Zun realized that the absence of his own biological father echoed society’s negative stereotypes. “There’s a lot of stereotypes about African-American men out there, and I guess I’m now becoming part of the narrative,” says Zun. “But at the same time, I know that the reality is a lot more complex. The motivation for me was to remember my childhood through this project, and to also say there’s a lot of focus in the media on the stereotype of the absent, deadbeat dad that doesn’t care. You see that everyday.” Zun says there isn’t enough focus on the men that are actually there. “On the one hand, you have the negative stereotypes, and on the other hand, what is proposed as a counter image is usually the perfect magical African-American father,” Zun explains, referring to TV personalities or celebrity dads. “You have to wonder, if you are an African-American father, or father period, how realistic is it for you to have to aspire to those unattainable role models? That’s not really ever going to be your situation.” -- source link