Protecting Your Girl: Portraits of Fathers and Their Daughters Who Vowed to Keep Their Virginity Until Marriage

David Magnusson chose a rather unusual subject for his first book and exhibition. "Integrity" is a project dedicated to girls who choose to keep their virginity before marriage, and their fathers who have vowed to support them in this.

The photographs of fathers and daughters taken by David Magnusson are like wedding portraits of a young bride and a father giving his child in marriage. All these shots are united not only by a beautiful composition, pastel colors and a beautiful background. The fact is that these girls decided to keep their virginity until the wedding, and their fathers vowed to help them in this difficult decision. When Magnusson first started this project, he expected to see tough men guarding their daughters almost with guns. But everything turned out to be much simpler and more sublime.

(Total 8 photos)

Source: slate.com

1. David Magnusson traveled to the US four times to meet and photograph fathers and daughters, and the more he learned about them, the more he was surprised by his own prejudices. Pictured: Rose and Randall Smoak, Dixie, Louisiana. (David Magnuson)

2. “I wanted to make portraits to illustrate how our understanding of the world – and photography itself – depends on our own values,” says the photographer. “When we are confronted with our own values and do not understand something, there are many instantaneous and strong emotional reactions.” It took Magnusson six months to finally be invited to Louisiana to meet with future members of his project. On that first trip, he took seven portraits. Pictured: Hope and Jay Smallwood, Hogton, Louisiana.

3. "From the very beginning, I wanted to show the relationship between fathers and daughters." Pictured: Miranda and Jody Heckert, Yuma, Arizona.

4. He started interviewing the people he photographed and it also helped form ideas about what made these girls make that decision in life. Pictured: Lila, Antonio and Maya-Sa, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

5. “When you listen to what separates and distinguishes specific people who are part of the same group, you suddenly realize that it's all about the people themselves, and not the group mindset. There's a lot of diversity in the band and everyone has their own reasons why they chose this path." Pictured: Grace and Gary Cruz, Black Forrest, Colorado.

6. The photographer realized that these girls are independent on their own, and their fathers are just trying to protect them. Magnusson says that everyone involved in the project really liked the photos he took. “I find it very interesting to see how the same photo can evoke such different reactions from viewers with different backgrounds.” Photo: Jenna and Jeff Clark, Chandler, Arizona.

7. Integrity will be Magnusson's first book, as well as his first solo exhibition. He says that if he knew that this project would take four years of his life, he probably would have been afraid to take on it. However, he knows when to stop. Pictured: Will and Nicole Rusma, Tucson, Arizona.

8. “At some point, you realize that if you continue, you will change your project, but not necessarily improve it. You can change it for the rest of your life, but you get to the point where the project is finished and ready for exhibition, and if you continue to work on it, you will turn it into something completely different. ” Pictured: Jamie and David Clampitt, Shreveport, Louisiana.