*“ I want my son to know my family in Japan, as it’s far away it’s hard to build a connection without being together. I hope he has memories of my parents. ” – Genne*
© Sophie Harris-Taylor

Text and artwork by Sophie Harris-Taylor

Interview by Gabe Shah

How did your series Present Fathers come to be?

After becoming a mum for the first time my work began to explore motherhood today. I began to realize that there seemed to be a lot out there for mothers and about motherhood but very little on

fatherhood. I wanted to give a voice to new fathers to allow a space for them to be noticed and share their own stories about becoming dads.

“ It’s hard to reflect on what’s been challenging though, if i look back at the experience of fatherhood so far I tend to just see all the good things. They tend to plaster over any hardship pretty quickly.” – Caspar
© Sophie Harris-Taylor

© Sophie Harris-Taylor, *Caspar and Sid*

Describe your creative process in one word?

Empathetic.

What inspires you to pursue image-making?

Most of my personal projects come from my own pre-occupations and concerns, I guess I find exploring these subjects therapeutic and often they allow me to gain insight and understand my own

experience through the eyes of others. I’m interested in people’s emotional history. The camera just gives me a voice. I love how instantaneous capturing an image can be, but how much there can

going on before and after and even alongside that we don’t see.

*“Don’t be afraid of fatherhood, it’s in our genes to be Paternal, most of it is instincts and gut feeling... you don’t need to be a genius to be a dad.” – Joe*
© Sophie Harris-Taylor

What advice would you give to people just starting out in photography?

Don’t try and confirm and get too caught up in the aesthetics. Be experimental. And explore subjects that interest you and I’m sure they’ll be of interest to others too.

What is the most played song in your music library?

At the moment .. Pillow Talk by Wild Child.