In early August, my team and I took Dad Time over to Iceland where we had the incredible opportunity to photograph five dads and their kids. This is the second international installment of the project, and I love seeing the cultural influences apparent in different parenting styles. Our first story from Iceland is about American ex-pat, Sæþór Randalsson, and his Icelandic husband, Ágúst Karlsson, who live in Reykjavik with their son, Daníel Valur.
Sæþór Randalsson is a stay-at-home Dad and 3D artist, while his husband Ágúst Karlsson is a software developer. They shared with us that their path to fatherhood was through finding a surrogate from Australia. She became a great friend of theirs, and with her help they were able to have a son who today loves cars, airplanes, and dinosaurs. We were lucky enough to spend the entire day with them, documenting their daily routine of riding via bicycle to playschool, an afterschool adventure to the sea, dinnertime, and getting ready for bed.
When talking about their decision on which school to send their son to, Sæþór explained that their are no bad schools in Iceland and that they chose a playschool near their home that also had other students with same-sex parents. He also shared that he feels much safer expressing affection toward his partner while in public in Iceland when compared to the United States. He feels completely safe holding hands in public here, without the need to first check his surroundings as he might have done in the United States. This was one of the many stories we heard about the incredible sense of community and welcoming culture of Iceland.
Daníel Valur climbs on Sæþór while the two are playing after school.
