World's Best Father (FCVO "best")

October 2, 2012 8:30 PM

World's Best Father. (For certain values of "best".)

Dave Engledow:

The first World’s Best Father image I shot was initially intended as a one-off. I wanted to capture the dazed, sleep-deprived obliviousness of the new father, while at the same time gently poking fun at myself and new fathers everywhere. I knew I wanted to portray the new father absent-mindedly using the baby’s bottle of milk for his own coffee while holding the baby like a football. Right before staging the shot, inspiration hit and I decided that the shot might be stronger if the coffee mug said something like “father of the year” or some similar superlative so I purchased the mug that has since made an appearance in all 56 (and counting) images in this photo series.

After receiving a lot of positive feedback on the first World’s Best Father image, I decided (four months later) to shoot another image featuring the clueless dad, the mug, and the baby in an obviously unsafe situation [...]

The character I portray in this series is intended to be a parody of the father I hope I never become–distracted, self-absorbed, neglectful, clueless, or even occasionally overbearing.

I’ve always used humor as a way to deal with my personal fears and neuroses, and in many way these images are often an attempt to do just that–to illustrate humorously the fears that I and, as I’ve learned, many other new fathers have about fatherhood.

posted by Lexica (21 comments total)

Delightfully Rockwellian!

I keep hoping that aesthetic will make a comeback.
posted by 256 at 8:37 PM on October 2, 2012

There's a Norman Rockwell vibe to these... fun stuff...


Or like 256 said....

(and, yes, I used the edit window.... 'cuz that comment wasn't there when I hit post !)
posted by HuronBob at 8:38 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

He'll be soon arrested for misuse of unsharp mask but decent pics, for the most part.
posted by docgonzo at 8:42 PM on October 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

I know these are set-up but my heart still skips a little beat when I look at some of these, e.g. ironing, flambeing, turkey carving, etc.
posted by unliteral at 8:45 PM on October 2, 2012

I approve of these merely because he's snuggling a Totoro in several. My 1-year-old now says "Toh-oh-roh?" after his brother explained to him you can PICK what appears on the television instead of it benevolently and at random showing your preferred entertainment.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:48 PM on October 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

and, yes, I used the edit window.... 'cuz

I know it's new and exciting, but please do not do this.
posted by cortex at 8:49 PM on October 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

Inspiring.
posted by Catch at 8:59 PM on October 2, 2012

I think for all values of "best."







Hey. There is live preview. There is also edit?
posted by oneironaut at 9:24 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

He'll be soon arrested for misuse of unsharp mask

Not to mention a bit much of the HDRI, although the two of them combine are part of what gives it that "Rockwellian" look, so maybe it's OK.
posted by ShutterBun at 11:02 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Surprisingly endearing. I didn't even notice how much the kid was growing until the series cycled back around to the first image.
posted by Eumachia L F at 11:28 PM on October 2, 2012

One angle I like about this is that you could view it as a send-up of the trope of the oafish, neglectful father archetype.
posted by !Jim at 12:09 AM on October 3, 2012

Amazingly sweet little girl. But I'm not sure 'parodying myself' really excuses Dad hogging the limelight quite so much.
posted by Segundus at 12:12 AM on October 3, 2012

The feeding strategy seems to work ... for the cats.
posted by chavenet at 1:06 AM on October 3, 2012

Here are the photos at his own webpage with more.
posted by smoke at 4:15 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm not really in love with the look but the photos themselves gave me a chuckle, especially the "haircut" one. His daughter is quite the model herself.
posted by tommasz at 6:03 AM on October 3, 2012

Wonderful. Thanks for sharing that.
posted by yankeefog at 6:43 AM on October 3, 2012

I'm not sure 'parodying myself' really excuses Dad hogging the limelight quite so much.

....The child is only two. I think her acting skills are still in development.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:25 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Assuming that these are probably fun for her to do now, I imagine the child will have an inverse bell curve amount of love for these pictures that will bottom out sometime in her pre-teen/teen years but that will come back quite a lot when she ages.

The ballet one is my favorite.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:57 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

My favorite is the one with the kid in the stockpot. Reminds me of the "Don't boil the baby" bit in The Story About the Baby, which made me laff and laff and laff.
posted by fancyoats at 9:45 AM on October 3, 2012

Interview with the World's Best Father
posted by homunculus at 2:17 PM on October 3, 2012

They're ok, but I think the creative photos of Kristin and Kayla are much more interesting and less repetitive...the father's goofy face gets to be a bit much.
posted by ghost dance beat at 6:12 PM on October 3, 2012