CHILDREN GROWING UP WITH WAR

Through honest photographs and prose Matthews captures what it is like to be a child of war, as well as a photojournalist working in such ravaged countries.

Each section, structured around the general themes of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (home, family, health, work, education and play), carries readers into conflict zones across the globe. Matthews explains that she became a photographer because she wanted to change the world. “Unfortunately, taking pictures rarely changes anything, but it has given me a way to communicate. I can tell people’s stories….” Readers glimpse refugee tents made of plastic sheeting amid deplorable conditions. Children forced to find work at a young age are shown gathering wood or weaving carpets. Difficult subjects such as arranged marriages to settle disputes, “lost” children who are separated from their families and disfiguring injuries are not ignored. The photographs could be much, much more upsetting—there is no graphic violence shown—but their harrowing nature certainly hits home. The scrapbooklike format attempts a relaxed intimacy, but it distracts from the whole. The text, though mostly in Matthews’ voice, not stories direct from the children, nevertheless provides a valuable and unusual behind-the-camera perspective.

An effective appeal to child readers as the ones who can stop the continuum of violence.