The gaudy, bold colours and two little hands peeking through a multicoloured muddle of plastic balls in this photograph by Juergen Teller seem to be simply, straightforwardly joyful. And while this is a happy image, it’s part of a series of photos by Teller that has more poignant undertones. The Demelza Kids series was shot in the Demelza children’s hospices in Kent and South East London last year, when Teller was invited to document the work the charity does with babies, children and young people with terminal conditions. “I approached this project as I do with any other: the same respect, directness and honesty—how I truly felt it should be done—the way I might photograph a portrait of a friend, a celebrity, a landscape scene or my own children,” says Teller. “I photographed the children as honestly as I could without shying away from the brutal truth of what I was confronting.” The Demelza Kids series is on show at Bonhams, New Bond Street in London from 10 to 16 April.
