Millions of people from around the world are currently experiencing very different childhoods. Some are living in abject poverty, lacking basic food and sanitation, while others are more fortunate by being born in a country where those things are guaranteed and usually taken for granted.
When photographer James Mollison was asked to come up with an idea for engaging with children’s rights, he found himself thinking of his bedroom: how significant it was during his childhood, and how it reflected what he had and who he was.
And with that, he made it his mission to create Where Children Sleep – a collection of stories about children from around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedrooms.
Bilal, 6, Wadi Abu Hindi, The West Bank
Indira, 7, Kathmandu, Nepal
Ahkohxet, 8, Amazonia, Brazil
Dong, 9, Yunnan, China
Anonymous, 9, Ivory Coast
Alex, 9, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Bikram, 9, Melamchi, Nepal
Tzvika, 9, Beitar Illit, The West Bank
Douha, 10, Hebron, The West Bank
Joey, 11, Kentucky, USA
Lamine, 12, Bounkiling village, Senegal
Rhiannon, 14, Darvel, Scotland
Risa, 15, Kyoto, Japan
Netu, 11, Kathmandu, Nepal
Inside the book, each pair of photographs is accompanied by an extended caption that tells the story of each child.
“It occurred to me that a way to address some of the complex situations and social issues affecting children would be to look at the bedrooms of children in all kinds of different circumstances”, James Mollison says on his website.
“From the start, I didn’t want it just to be about ‘needy children’ in the developing world, but rather something more inclusive, about children from all types of situations.”
We think he did an incredible job of doing just that. If the phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ was ever true, then the pictures above say more than anyone ever can.