Featured in PDN's 'Notable Photobooks of 2016'

BAPTISTE LIGNEL

with an afterword by LAIA ABRIL

 
One in five under 18 year olds in the USA is diagnosed as having a mental condition which translates itself into behavioral problems. Often this is treated with medication which can start from an extremely young age.

Over a six-year period Bapitiste Lignel followed the progress of nine American teenagers with an array of pathologies which lead to behavior problems such as ADHD and OCD as well as depression and anxiety. In candid interviews the teenagers talk about their diagnoses and the impact that their medical treatment has had on their lives.

Photographs are combined with elements found in popular culture and social media, showing us what image is reflected back from society - often a negative one. Far from trivializing the difficulties these young people face, this combination brings additional voices to the narrative, and broadens its scope. It contributes to drawing a balanced picture of a complex topic, often simplified and stigmatized by the media.

Paris based, Baptiste Lignel specialises in long term social reportage and portraiture ad his work has featured in many major international publications such as The Guardian, Liberation, Grazia and Marie Claire. He is the author of three books and monographs co-founder of the photographic platform Otra Vista.

Laia Abril is an established photographer with an international reputation. Her last book The Epilogue, published by Dewi Lewis in 2014, won her international acclaim and was selected as best photo book of the year by more than twenty critics.

Hardback
228 pages, 240mm x 180mm
Over 100 colour photographs & extensive illustrations
ISBN: 978-1-907893-89-6