Hawke's Bay man Guy Dooney (left) and father Chris Dooney, who feature in Neil Foxcroft's 2025 FotoFest exhibition. Photo / Neil Foxcroft photography
Hawke's Bay man Guy Dooney (left) and father Chris Dooney, who feature in Neil Foxcroft's 2025 FotoFest exhibition. Photo / Neil Foxcroft photography
Hawke’s Bay man Neil Foxcroft is many things, including an acupuncturist, tattooist, hobby photographer and father.
Inspired by his own experiences of fatherhood and Valery Poshtarov, Foxcroft has worked to photograph tender moments and challenge traditional masculine bonds between fathers and their sons.
He used onesimple gesture to do so: holding hands.
The passion project has culminated in his exhibition “Holding on: Fathers and Sons”, a series of portraits.
“A handshake is permitted, a pat on the back expected, but the act of holding hands as adults pushed against what society deems acceptable,” Foxcroft wrote in his description of the work.
He said when his father died, he took the opportunity to really dive into photography and express his emotions through the medium.
“My father was absent but then in his final stages of life he lived with us and that all happened to be around the time I was getting into photography.”
Liam Reid (left) and father Bill Reid, who feature in Neil Foxcroft's exhibition. Photo / Neil Foxcroft photography
Foxcroft said he had a moment with his son and realised that holding hands with parents only comes when you are young or in death.
“I would always walk along holding his hand, and I would feel like one day this is going to stop, one day it’s going to be too weird for him.
“It’s very end of life and beginning of life.”
Foxcroft created the project over two to three years via a Facebook callout for volunteers.
“I would talk to them about it as if it was a portrait session and we would get lots of different photos.”
During the session, he would ask the men to pose holding hands.
“They would do it without thinking and once they are holding hands then there would be this weird moment of realisation...and that’s the bit I was going for.”
Foxcroft said he wanted to challenge these societal norms, and explore the parental bond.
Jesse Renall with his father Steve Renall. Photo / Neil Foxcroft Photography.
He said each photograph came with different stories and personalities and he worked to incorporate this into the background of each image.
“What I wanted was people in their environment, so where they are and what they do.”
He said there was great skill in getting the feeling and emotional depth in an image.
“It was grown men where each one has developed their own sense they are their own person - but they are still father and son.”
Foxcroft said the project was ongoing and he hoped to photograph mothers and sons.
The photographs are on display as part of FotoFest and can be viewed at Decibel Wines on Warren St South, Hastings.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
