What does a room of its "owner" tell us? Does he teach us his dreams, his tastes, his customs? How much can we learn from your family, from your culture through the children's room? It is what has been asked the photographer James Mollison and has shaped it in the series and photo book "Where the children sleep".
If a child's toys can tell us a lot about him and his culture, the same goes for the children's room, populated with many toys. The photographer has traveled half the world to know his rooms: United States, Mexico, Brazil, England, Italy, Israel, the West Bank, Kenya, Senegal, Lesotho, Nepal, China and India.
Thus we discover many things, not only of the owner of the room, but of his parents, of his customs, of his family situation and the environment in which he lives. Some rooms let us see precisely that environment, since they are practically outdoors.
"Where children sleep" It is a project that shows the immense differences between children, and that invites us to reflect on inequality or, as the artist points out, realize the fate that most of us have in the developed world.
And it is that in the photographs we can see rooms that show great luxury next to miserable rooms devoid of any complement. The photographs also show us the children, and here we can also see the contrast between girls dressed as princesses and ragged boys who spend their childhood working.
In the end, the photographs of "Where children sleep" They go beyond an aesthetic purpose and acquires another social one: to draw attention to inequalities and the need for protection of the most disadvantaged. I recommend you take a look at the author's website.
