JR’s giant and striking black-and-white photographs have appeared on buildings and pavements and in subways and border walls via public installations in over 140 countries. One of the world’s most acclaimed public artists and a self-acclaimed “photograffeur”, JR is known for sparking discussions around everyday people and things that usually go unnoticed. Created in collaboration with the Inside Out Project, a global participatory art project with which he won the TED Prize and has since drawn over 400,000 participants internationally, How Old Am I?: 1—100 Faces from Around the World showcases the faces and lives of 100 people from around the world via evocative photographs of faces taken by the featured individuals themselves with simple, poignant text. JR’s second book for children encourages children to consider the faces and stories from a one-year old to a centurian and provides a perfect conversation-starter for ever-curious children about growing up and growing older.
“I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world inside out.”
— JR
With this book and the project, JR aims to connect children and adults around the world. His Inside Out Project “is working to change the world,” says the artist. “It’s my dream come true” to help spark conversations to “change the way we see other people, help us get along, and help the world.”
With striking close-up black-and-white photographs of people from Cuba to Thailand, Cartagena to Berlin to Istanbul and more, How Old Am I? includes information, not only about the age of each featured person but their name, where they live, what makes them happy and what their wish for the world is, their story and how to say hello in their native language. Also included is an entry of and from JR as well as information about the Inside Out Project how kids can get involved, photographs of Inside Out projects from the North Pole to Bangladesh, Malawi to Canada and more.
How Old Am I? 1-100 Faces From Around the World £16:95 phaidon.com
About the Artist
The subject of a 60 Minutes feature and much press attention from around the world, JR is the enigmatic Parisian artist/activist behind some of the world’s most provocative large-scale public photography projects. He first garnered international attention at age 27 when he won the TED Prize for his Inside Out Project and his black-and-white portraits – pasted on buildings, streets, trains, and monuments – allowing locals to have ownership of their surroundings. Phaidon has published a monograph and in-depth retrospective, JR: Can Art Change the World?, and also his first children’s book, Wrinkles, showcasing wrinkles and the stories they tell. jr-art.net
