Tenderness, Presence, and Responsibility—A Photographic Exploration of Fatherhood

The Fotogalerie Friedrichshain presents a group exhibition dedicated to the theme of fatherhood from a personal and contemporary perspective. The exhibition brings together photographic positions that narrate fatherhood from a first-person perspective and in the present tense, deliberately breaking with traditional images of masculinity and paternal roles.

At the center are the everyday rituals of care: holding, comforting, guiding, and letting grow. The featured works deal with the moment of welcoming a new life and the irreversibility of this experience. Instead of distant or stoic father figures and idealized family portraits, the projects unfold intimate and immediate insights into lived relationships.

The photographs reveal tenderness, vulnerability, and closeness. They show fathers who perceive their role not as a fixed identity, but as a process—a continuous learning, negotiating, and finding expressions of care. In sensitive image sequences, uncertainties become just as visible as responsibility and deep connection. Drawing from very personal experiences, the works develop a remarkable universality. They shift the focus away from heroic narratives of fatherhood toward the quiet, often overlooked everyday moments that reveal the subtle traces of love, effort, and change shaping family life and parenthood.

The exhibition invites the audience to reflect on contemporary forms of fatherhood and how role models are shaped. It opens a space for reflection on care, proximity, and responsibility—and, beyond that, on what it truly means to be a father.

With works by:
David Ameye, Arno Brignon, Troy Colby, Urizen Freaza, Cédric Friggeri, Rio Leipold, Céline Pilch

Fotogalerie Friedrichshain

The Fotogalerie Friedrichshain is Berlin’s oldest municipal photo gallery. Founded in 1985, it was the first gallery in East Germany dedicated exclusively to photography. Since 2002, it has been operated by the Kulturring in Berlin e.V. (Cultural Association of Berlin). The gallery focuses on socially documentary and politically engaged photography. Solo exhibitions by established photographers alternate with those of talented emerging photographers and group exhibitions on specific themes.

Thursday, Mar 19, 2026, 7 pm
Opening Reception