“The Shining”
When we’re really young, our parents are the celebrities of our lives. So to imagine them as the star of many famous films? It’s not far-fetched. Matt Bonito has done just that with his series of images that feature his father, Dom Bonito. Photoshopped into iconic movie scenes and famous works of art and photographs.
According to Matt, his dad is integral to scenes in many films. He’s featured alongside Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, and he replaces the character of Rose in Titanic. Dom is also the main character in numerous paintings; he has taken the place of the screaming person in artist Edvard Munch’s The Scream and is just one of the guys playing poker in Cassius Marcellus Coolidge’s Dogs Playing Poker.
In each image, Matt tailors the look of his father so that he is seamlessly part of any scene he’s in. But there are some things that always remain the same. His dad never changes out of his sweater vest and newsboy-style cap, adding a bit of humor to each image by looking out of place.
Matt came up with the idea after seeing unconventional advent calendars pop up online. “I’d seen other people doing advent calendar posts on Facebook,” he tells My Modern Met, “pictures of cute animals and stuff like that, but I thought it would be funny to post pictures of my dad doing stupid things around the house (he’s a bit of a local celebrity where I live, so I knew my Facebook friends would find it amusing).”
That following year, Matt started Photoshopping Dom into films, television shows, and historical events. He made this choice because of bad lighting. “Rather than have him constantly doing things in just one room,” he explains, “I decided to cut him out and stick him in other places. It was only ever intended for my friends and family, but it got so popular that we’ve now got dedicated pages for it right across social media.”
Matt’s favorite part of his ongoing project is that it allows him to spend more time with his dad. “We can spend hours sat laughing around the dinner table while we come up with ideas, and it’s never a bad thing to have an excuse to hang out with him,” he shares. “I also just love the creativity of it all. Not everything we try works, but I just love the absurdity of dropping an old man in a ridiculous outfit into—quite often—very serious scenes.”
Having completed its 8th year, the annual project—called Dadvent—comes around every holiday season. So, to enjoy the next round of funny Photoshops, mark your own calendar for December 1.
Each year, Matt Bonito Photoshops his dad into famous films, artworks, and more. He’s the star of the show:
“Titanic”
“Pulp Fiction”
“Pretty Woman”
“Thor: The Dark World”
“Who Framed Roger Rabbit”
“Home Alone”
“The Graduate”
“Raiders of the Lost Ark”
“ET”
The Avengers
“Braveheart”
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
“The Matrix”
As well as the main character in iconic artworks.
“The Scream” by Edvard Munch
“A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat
“Dogs Playing Poker” by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
“Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe” by Édouard Manet
“A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” by Édouard Manet
“Love is in the Bin” by Banksy
Dadvent (aka Matt Bonito): Facebook | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Matt Bonito.
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