A NEW PORTRAYAL OF CONTEMPORARY BOYHOOD (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Being a teenager has never been easy. Navigating hormonal changes, pressure at school, and finding out who you are is challenging. But boys today are faced with an impossible mix of mistrust, distorted views on physical appearance and low academic expectations. It’s like society has simultaneously given up on them, and is blaming them for their shortcomings. I asked teenage boys how it feels like to grow up with those tensions. What worries them? Who inspires them? What are their dreams? How do they define masculinity? Does it even matter? The responses are touching and prove the inner lives of boys are just as complex and varied as those of other people, but also expose where they lack guidance. It’s time for us adults to see them fully, as the well-rounded humans that they are. This book exists to shed light on the overlocked facets of boyhood and to paint a more positive picture for young people growing up today.

My goal is to challenge the negative and limiting representation of young men and show contemporary boyhood in a new light. As a mother of two teenage boys myself I believe that boys are just as emotionally complex as girls. I want to give boys a chance to express themselves openly and be seen with all their contradictions, energy and rage, but also all their tenderness and creativity. My intention is to offer an intimate snapshot into contemporary boyhood, portraying a diverse range of adolescents from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, as well as varying attitudes to gender identity and expression. 

The book will consist of a collection of interviews, celebrating the voices of boys, allowing them to share their thoughts and experiences in their own words. Analogue photography will feature alongside the stories to bring their worlds to life.