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Gay Black Dads Whose Family Photo Went Viral Star in Camera Commercial

An Instagram image posted by Atlanta fathers Kaleb and Kordale Lewis sparked waves of support and homophobic backlash last year.

Last January, Atlanta fathers Kaleb and Kordale Lewis took a picture of themselves as they helped their daughters get ready for school and posted the image on Instagram. The simple image quickly went viral and sparked divided waves of support and controversy.

One year later, the couple and their three children are starring in a new Nikon commercial as part of the company’s “I Am Generation Image” campaign, The Root reports.

The video shows a typical day in the lives of Kaleb and Kordale’s household. As stated on the campaign website, the fathers view photography as a way to share their family’s life and "maybe reveal how much [their] family is like yours.”

Critics of the Lewis family photo slammed the idea of two Black gay men raising children together, while even some of the seemingly positive comments from supporters seemed problematic, as MUSED Magazine noted.

"The comments were a trip," Kaleb said in the commercial. "It didn't make me feel any way because I know they don't know what we go through. I know they don't know our children. They don’t know our lifestyles; they don't know how we live. A picture is so much more than a thousand words."

This past May, the couple also released a memoir titled Picture Perfect?, authored by Kordale, to address some of the questions they received when their Instagram image went viral.

"Letting people into our lives will help shed light on our beautiful home life and hopefully counter negative attitudes about homosexuals and raising children,” Kordale told The Huffington Post. "I believe my book will help the average person overcome obstacles life throws at you. This book WILL help people achieve a better understanding of the gay community as well as the life Kaleb and I live.”

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(Photo: Paul La Calandra via Vimeo)

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