Peter Puklus
Witty Books
In The Hero Father, Peter Puklus continues a long running investigation into the structure of family life and the cultural narratives that shape it. Often presented alongside his earlier project The Hero Mother – How to Build a House, the book forms part of a broader body of work examining the roles and expectations associated with parenthood.
Puklus approaches these themes through an eclectic photographic language that blends staged images, documentary fragments and sculptural interventions. Rather than offering a straightforward portrait of fatherhood, the work examines how masculine identity is constructed within domestic space.
The project reflects on the symbolic position of the father figure within the family unit. Objects, gestures and everyday environments are reconfigured into visual metaphors, allowing Puklus to question inherited ideas about authority, care and responsibility.
Edited and art directed by Tommaso Parrillo, the book brings together these elements in a carefully structured sequence. The result is a work that moves between humour and introspection while continuing Puklus’s broader inquiry into how personal identity is shaped by the rituals of daily life.
