CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 5/1/2015

James Mollison: Playground, Photographs of children at play around the world

One of the most eagerly awaited photography books this season, James Mollison: Playground collects the photographer's subtly provocative images of children at play on schoolgrounds around the world - from the fatigue-sporting Cadet School of the Heroes of Space in Moscow to the Virani Deaf and Dumb School in Rajkot, Gujarat, India, to the Freretown Community Primary School in Mombasa, below. Preorder now!

Mollison writes, "When I conceived this series of pictures, I was thinking about my time at school. I realized that most of my memories were from the playground. It had been a space of excitement, games, bullying, laughing, tears, teasing, fun and fear. It seemed an interesting place to go back and explore in photographs. I started the project in the UK, revisiting my school and some of the other schools nearby. I became fascinated by the diversity of children's experiences, depending on their school. The contrasts between British schools made me curious to know what schools were like in other countries. Most of the images from the series are composites of moments that happened during a single break time—a kind of time-lapse photography. I have often chosen to feature details that relate to my own memories of the playground. Although the schools I photographed were very diverse, I was struck by the similarities between children's behavior and the games they played."

ABOVE: Dechen Phodrang, Thimphu, Bhutan.

ABOVE: Aida Boys School, Bethlehem, West Bank.

ABOVE: Shohei Elementary School, Tokyo.

ABOVE: Hull Trinity House School, Hull, UK.

ABOVE: Inglewood High School, Inglewood, California.

ABOVE: Kroo Bay Primary, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

ABOVE: Utheim Skole, Kårvåg Averøy, Norway. All images reproduced from James Mollison: Playground.