Danilo Zocatelli, a 37-year-old photographer raised in Marialva, in the countryside of Paraná, had Sundays as the worst day of the week during his childhood. His father, João, took him to a football field, an environment he never managed to understand or fit into, describing it as strongly masculine in the most traditional sense. Decades later, Danilo returned to the same place to expunge the discomforts of the past, this time accompanied by his father, who posed wearing a wavy wig, drag queen makeup, as well as shorts and a Palmeiras shirt.
The photo session resulted in the series "Dear Father," which will be exhibited starting this Saturday at gallery O Jardim, in Mooca, São Paulo. Before arriving in Brazil, the work was presented in several countries, including France, England, Switzerland, and Belgium, causing emotion wherever it went.
The project emerged as part of Danilo's master's research in photography at the Royal School of Art in London. The photographer explained that the experience with his father at the football field never made sense to him during his childhood, and the photo series represented a way of finally confronting and resolving those old feelings.
