Warning: This series contains nudity. If you’re not down, look away now!

It wasn’t until New York-based photographer Jo Imperio was photographing her father that she realized how much of her ongoing project was inspired by their relationship.

Imperio didn’t meet her dad, who moved away shortly after she was born, until she was 7 years old. Before that, “I only knew him through photographs,” she wrote in an email to The Huffington Post.

After years of being raised solely by her mom, Jo was astonished by the way her father so quickly and naturally fell into a traditional patriarchal role. “I was struck by his sudden authority in my life,” she said, “and how after years of absence he returned with a role in the family, a duty as a father, as a provider, and as a leader.”