It seems the internet has unintentionally (or intentionally? I don't know these people personally) launched a contest to see who can be the best dad possible, especially chronicling their efforts in photos. David Engledow created a photo series that documents staged contests between the father and his children (as well as other fantastic imagined scenarios, sometimes involving Breaking Bad ). Now fellow photographer Alan Lawrence might just muscle Engledow out of the Best Dad With A Camera spot. He photographs his 1-year-old son with Down Syndrome to look like he's flying in a series called "Wil Can Fly" and, understandably, the whole internet is falling in love with this family.
The Utah father has a whole method for how he creates these images of his young son, Wil: Lawrence holds Wil in the air, snaps the camera, and later erases himself from the image in Photoshop. The circumstances in which Wil goes airborne are so varied and often triumphant he really does look like a tiny, rosy-cheeked superhero. One shot catches him just about to victoriously land a slam dunk. In others we see him soaring across an expansive mountainscape, helping with a snowman's finishing touches, or poised to tickle some ivories. Lawrence shared some really positive, inspiring thoughts with KSL.com on the hand dealt to him when he and his wife first met Wil: "He really can fly. He’s still young, but we know as family that Wil can do anything that he puts his mind to."
Lawrence also records his thoughts on fatherhood, as well as various photography and videography efforts, on his blog. He's also spearheading a Kickstarter project called Bringing Light. All donations will go to fund the continuation of the Wil Can Fly series, which includes a trip through five states so Wil can be shot at various U.S. landmarks while he's still very young. Those images are slated to appear in a 2016 calendar, half the proceeds from which will go to various Down Syndrome foundations. Check out the promotional video for the campaign below:
Rewards always play a big part in the Kickstarter incentive thing (although, to be fair, this sounds like a more than worthy cause even without rewards for donors), and Bringing Light is no different: Besides some donation brackets scoring the actual calendar, others will get handmade items from the older Lawrence children, including friendship bracelets made by one daughter, original drawings done from the road by an older son, and a personalized guitar song from yet another child (remember, Wil is the youngest of five). It is sweetness beyond words. No, YOU'RE happy crying.
Images: thatdadblog/Instagram(8)
