Where Children Sleep By James Mollison

Where Children Sleep presents Mollison’s large format photographs children’s bedrooms around the world – including from the USA, Mexico, Brazil, England, Italy, Israel and the West Bank, Kenya, Senegal, Lesotho, Nepal, China and India – alongside portraits the children whose bedrooms are featured. Each pair photographs is accompanied by an extended caption that tells the story the child in question - about Kaya in Tokyo whose proud mother spends 00 per month on her dresses; about Bilal the Bedouin shepherd boy who sleeps out with his father's herd goats; about the Nepali girl Indira, who has worked in a granite quarry since she was three years old, and about Ankhohxet, the Kraho boy who sleeps on the floor a hut deep in the Amazon jungle. Photographed over four years with the support Save the Children, the book is written and presented for an audience 9-13 year olds – intended to interest and engage children in the details the lives other children around the world, and the social issues affecting them, while also being a serious photographic essay for an adult audience. Its striking design features a child's mobile on the cover, printed in glow-in-the-dark ink.
Author words about his photos:
“Rhiannon’s home is a terraced house in Darvel, southern Scotland, a picturesque town which used to be famous for lace-making. She is fourteen years old and lives with her parents and brother. The area is now plagued by heroin addiction and gang violence. Her school is full pupils who have been expelled from schools in nearby Glasgow. Rhiannon has had a mohawk haircut like her parents’ ever since she was six. She and her family and friends are part the punk subculture and have formed a community support where they all look out for each other. They have become used to abusive behaviour from people in their neighbourhood. Rhiannon has suffered from bullying at school because her appearance, but fought back and is now left alone. She plays guitar, drums and bass, and also sings. Her father has his own band.”