Where Children Sleep
>> Monday, November 19, 2012
I came across some photos on the internet about children and their bedrooms that I found incredibly interesting.
But it seemed odd, just a photo of child and room, nothing else. Surely there must be more behind them.
Many of the comments left on the site wondered the same and I found it bothered me that I didn't know more.
It turns out these photos are a tiny part of an amazing book by James Mollison called Where Children Sleep.
It is not a charity project or a driven cause, it is a book of photos of where children sleep and a small amount of information about the child.
Some are rich, some are poor, some left me thinking for a long time and some are just downright sad, but they are all so different.
I read it, and then asked COG to read it, she did and found the same as me, some pictures stir up so many thoughts. For her the girl whose room is full of trophies totally intrigued her and the gun holding Brazilian gang member scared her.
For me the picture that stays with me is Romanian boy who 'lives' in Italy. He and his parents have no real shelter. His parents cannot read or write and have no documents. They beg and clean car windows to survive. What hope for their 4 year old boy.
This is a powerful book in it's own quiet, understated way.
I'm going to find a way to build it into a Rangers night if I can but I think it's something children should see. It shows such incredible diversity from a privately schooled to be lawyer in a New York Fifth Avenue apartment to a Cambodian who lives on a rubbish dump and parent's pay rent for it.
Each child has a hope of what they want to be when they grow up, so many of the poorest want to be doctors and teachers. Children's hopes and dreams are some of the most beautiful things on earth, so pure and untouched by reality.
0 comments :
Post a Comment