Pomme CELARIE
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Usually coming from alcoholic families, 150 children between the ages of 2 and 8 live in the state orphanage of Ulan Bator, in the centre of Mongolia’s capital not far from a public school. Nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains about 50 km from the capital is the summer camp, made out of many huts: a kitchen, girls and boys dormitories, bathrooms. Few adults look after the children. They are organised into « families » of around 20, where the older children help the younger ones. As a photographer I crossed Europe and Russia with 15 other people from an association in order to liven up the summer camp by organising different workshops: juggling, puppets, painting, photography, open air games, films… We shared the daily lives of these children for two months becoming close to them; the series is the result of this intimacy.