Place you call home: Summit, New Jersey
What are your favorite memories with your father?
Just being outside with my dad and my two older brothers playing sports—pickup football in the front yard, basketball and Wiffle ball with my dad and friends, We played a game called amazing catches, where we’d be in the front yard, my dad would throw us a football, and we’d have to dive and lay out to try to make these great one-handed catches. We’d also do it into the pool. He’d stand on the side, and we’d get a running start and jump into the pool and do a flip and try to catch these passes.
What are the values you hope to pass down and instill in your family?
Whatever you decide to do, work really hard at it. And be kind to others.
Places you call home: New York City and East Hampton
What are the most important lessons your father taught you about life and being a father?
My father taught me to be patient, be on time, work hard, and not be afraid to ask for help. I think all apply to life and parenting.
What are you most proud of as a father?
I am most proud of the kindness I see in my son.
Places you call home: New York City and Water Mill
How did becoming a father change your life?
JOSEPH: In a myriad of ways, big and small. Of course, your day-to-day
is transformed—what you worry about, what you plan for, who you
end up spending time with. And, fundamentally, my identity and how
I perceived myself became larger, more complex. Becoming a father has added so much meaning to my life and how I think of my place in the world.
If you could leave a one-sentence message for your children to turn to throughout your life, what would it be?
SETH: Enjoy the ride.
Place you call home: Brooklyn, New York (Mike), and Spring Lake, New Jersey (Alex)
What are your favorite memories with your father?
MIKE: I have such a great vision of him standing behind the grill at our childhood home near the beach in Spring Lake, New Jersey.
On Saturdays in the summer we would always host family and friends over at the house. It was guaranteed that he’d have one of his many Hawaiian shirts on. We had a little basketball court on the side of the house by the grill. He would be hyping us up for great plays.
What are the values you hope to pass down and instill in your family?
ALEX: Living a joyful life is the most important thing. And that joy comes from trying to be the best at everything you do, whether it’s work or how you show up for the world.
Place you call home: Miami
What are your favorite memories with your father?
My father, Stan Love, was a star player at the University of Oregon and played several years in the NBA, most notably with the Baltimore Bullets and the LA Lakers. My favorite memories with my dad come from playing basketball in the driveway with him and my older brother, Collin. My dreams to follow in my dad’s footsteps were pretty immediate.
How do you honor the spirit of your child?
My daughter is on my mind at all times. Therefore she factors into just about every decision I make. I honor her by making a conscious effort to do better and be better.
Place you call home: Solomeo, Italy
What qualities of your father did you admire the most?
The quiet courage with which he conducted his life regarding work and family, and his words of caution and wisdom when he would say to me, “Try to always be a good man.”
How do you honor the spirit of your children?
With a courage that I lack—to fully embrace happiness, and to experience without fear such deeply human moments, like the birth of a grandchild.
Cristina Cuomo: I was so happy to do a cover story with your Mother and Child book from 2018. Now you have Father and Child, just in time for Father’s Day. What compelled you to focus on the father this time?
Claiborne Swanson Frank: What inspired me to create Mother and Child was really the same for Father and Child. There really hadn’t been a book, a large body of work, celebrating mothers and children. There was a void, and I think the only reason to create a book or tell a story is if it needs to be told. As much as you would think Mother and Child had been done, it hadn’t. I started creating Mother and Child after the birth of my first son. By the time it was completed, I had already had my second child. When the book finally was published my kids were 2 and 4. Being a mother of two boys, I really thought about how I wanted to raise my children, and raise these boys to be men. I looked toward their father, and other fathers who are inspiring this cultural moment. Within that thought was the creation of Father and Child. I was really excited to document the love between fathers and their children, and tell this new modern story of fatherhood.
CC: There is such a wide range of fathers here—laymen and athletes and celebrities and artists and musicians. You went all over, from New York and Miami to California. How did you go about your selection process?
CSF: As with all my books, I’m the creative director. I style and I cast my subjects and I work with them on location. All the subjects in my books are people who inspire me. Father and Child is a special mix of fathers who are contributing their gifts and talents to this cultural moment. The subjects in Father and Child were so wide-ranging, from all walks of life and many different fields such as pro athletes, tech, chefs, writers, designers, artists and screenwriters, among many others. My hope was to tell a fresh, new story.
I wasn’t prepared for how similar Father and Child and Mother and Child would feel in terms of aesthetics, and also energy. Love is love, and the love between a father and child feels the same as a mother and child. I feel so honored that the fathers felt safe to share that love with me, and allow me to witness and capture that.
CC: I know how important family is to you. What are some of the life lessons your father shared with you that inspires you as a photographer and a mother?
CSF: A revelation I had while I was creating Father and Child was that these men, no matter what they were creating in the world, were most passionate about their children and the legacy they’re leaving through them. My dad is in this book. I interviewed him for the introduction. He played such a profound role in my life. He inspired my sisters and I to create our lives with intention, determination and heart. He taught us through hard work, you can actualize all of your dreams. I think my dad was, for my generation, very modern. He raised three daughters, and his hope was for us to go beyond being solely a mother and a wife, and find our deeper life purpose. We were told we were limitless. That was really a gift. The great love of my dad’s life is his family, and I think it’s the same for all of us. In the end family is really all that matters. Do what you love, leave your mark and love your family.
CC: Your dad must be so proud of you. What is your greatest memory with him as a child?
CSF: My dad was so there when it mattered. He was there for every report card, for every success, every failure. He was the first call. He’s 86 now. He’s still the first call.
CC: You really showed that beautiful dynamic between father and child in all of these portraits. I love reading the interviews with them. I love that you expanded your portfolio of each family in this book.
CSF: Mother and Child was like that, too. There’s no one moment in parenting—it’s all a series of moments that create a life. It’s the same in the book. These multiple portraits are a series of moments that tell a story about fatherhood.
CC: What do you love about the way your husband parents your children?
CSF: James is such an amazing father in the way that he supports Hunter and Wilder so they can actualize their greatest gifts and dreams. He does everything in the world that he can to bring these realities to life, while nurturing and honoring them.
All photos from the book Father and Child (Assouline); assouline.com