Where Children Sleep
Karen ·
Mar 8, 2011 at 2:33pm
James Mollison, an English-born photographer, spent five years traveling the world photographing children and their bedrooms. The photographer pairs a portrait of each young child with a photo of his or her living area and a small paragraph describing the child's life. The pictures are intriguing, but sometimes heart-breaking. Mollison's commentary is clearly meant to appeal emotionally to the global imbalance of resources and opportunities, but I think it will challenge any reader's perspective.
The book is in print form, but you can see the whole thing online at Issu.
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Jun '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
Yes, it can be heartbreaking. But perhaps if some of those anti-capitalist, anti-American regimes actually adopt capitalism and American-style constitutional government, then they and their children could eventually live much better lives in cleaner, more comfortable surroundings...or they could make Americans feel guilty for what we've been able to achieve and bleed us dry of all our wealth and prosperity so everyone in the world is poorer not richer. So which is it going to be? And what is the real agenda behind this book?
Jul '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
Is it just me, or does it seem a little creepy that a guy would spend five years sniffing around childrens' bedrooms?
Nov '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
TOTALLY, Kenneth. That was the creepiest first sentence ever.
Jun '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
Yeah, well the same photographer also worked on the United Colors of Benetton campaign which is arguably subversive propaganda to shove multiculturalism down our throats.
Jul '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
The looks in those kids' eyes tell me they don't trust the guy as far as they can bounce a piano.
May '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
No doubt he has an agenda here. And I was wondering how he managed to talk the parents or guardians into this. But I think he doesn't interject his bias to such an extent, that it prevents the work from being viewed only one way. My kids might be too young, but I think older kids might be amazed at the diversity of experience for children all over the world. It wasn't until I was a teenager traveling around Europe that I realized how blessed I was living in America. Context is so important, particularly when it comes to how people define wealth and prosperity. I'm not making a political statement, just an observation.
Jul '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
I actually think it's a good post, Karen. And I get what the guy is trying to do. But the kiddy-bedroom thing reminds me a little too much of an underpants gnome. And the photos of the kids just have a bit of a pedo edge to them.
Edited on Mar 5, 2011 at 2:15pmMay '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
Kenneth
I actually think it's a good post, Karen. And I get what the guy is trying to do. But the kiddy-bedroom thing reminds me a little too much of an underpants gnome. And the photos of the kids just have a bit of a pedo edge to them. · Mar 5 at 2:14pm
Edited on Mar 05 at 02:15 pm
Did my comments set up that perception, or do you think you would have had that response anyway? I'm just wondering, because I saw posts about this book on a couple of mommy/design/photography sites (they exist, trust me) and the subject of pedophilia never came up in the comments. So few of the children photographed even have a space to themselves (which I guess was part of his point), so I never got that vibe looking at the book as a whole. I know where every registered sex offender lives within a 5 mile radius of my house, but this book never registered with me as creepy. It's interesting how people can see things so differently, isn't it?
Jul '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
Karen
Kenneth
Did my comments set up that perception, or do you think you would have had that response anyway?
No, there is just a look most of these kids have - a sort of rictus; as though they already know something about this guy and they cannot wait for the moment to be over. Kids usually like the attention they get from being photographed. These kids seem to know there is something not quite right. He's probably already primped them, done their make-up, oh-so-carefully adjusted their costumes. You can't get away with too much of that in the U.S. But if you're a wealthy Western photographer, you can get away with it in, say, Bangladesh.
Pedophiles tend to go into fields that give them access to kids: clown, priest - child photographer.
Jul '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
Why globally? Were there not enough children in His home country to fill a book?
There's not a "global imbalance of resources," but an imbalance of Freedom.
This doesn't challenge My perspective, but strengthens it.
Aug '10
Re: Where Children Sleep
In my house their bedrooms are often "Where Children Don't Sleep."
Jan '11
Re: Where Children Sleep
Karen
The pictures are intriguing, but sometimes heart-breaking. Mollison's commentary is clearly meant to appeal emotionally to the global imbalance of resources and opportunities, but I think it will challenge any reader's perspective. ·
I generally enjoy being a reader of picture books but my perspective was not challenged and the only item of intrigue was who buys into this flim flam? When was the last time there was a global (heck even a local) balance of resources and opportunities?
The U.S.A. Inc. post; now that breaks my heart.
Re: Where Children Sleep
I actually really love this book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Karen. It was reminiscent of the movie "Babies." I think it's possible to look at the pictures and read about the children without focusing on the author's political agenda. And I think it might be beneficial for young children to flip through the book to see how other children live so that they can begin to realize how blessed their own lives are as well as to gain an awareness that children live differently (and often with much less) in different parts of the world.