The reluctant father

Phillip Toledano is an Englishman living in New York. With an established international reputation, he has been a photographer and artist for the last 12 years. In that time, he has published 4 books, ranging in subject from plastic surgery, phone sex, and failing businesses, through to the last years he spent with his father. His work combines great poignancy with a rich vein of humour.\n\nTo his surprise, Phillip became a father in July 2009. He fell in love with his daughter about a year and a half later, when he realised she was the most bewitching human being he’d ever seen. Initially though things were different. The Reluctant Father follows Phillip’s journey at the beginning of fatherhood. From dismay and confusion, to the blinding light of unalloyed love. It’s a surprisingly frank, funny and moving account, and he hopes his daughter won’t hold it against him when she’s grown up.\n\nIn many ways, The Reluctant Father is a sequel to the best selling Days With My Father, which documented the three years Phillip spent taking care of his father, who suffered from dementia. More than 1.4 million people visited the site that he set up for the project, over 200,000 comments were posted, and Toledano received several thousand emails. The book has since been translated into several langauages and the photographs have been widely exhibited worldwide.