Where children sleep: A photo series

In Yunnan Province in southwest China, Mollison met 9-year-old Dong. He shares a room with his sister, his parents and his grandfather. The family is poor and owns just enough land to grow rice and sugar cane. When he grows up, Dong wants to be a police officer because then, he can "chase thieves and run around."

Harrison, 8, leads a very different life. The family lives in a mansion in New Jersey, USA. He has a TV of his own, a bathroom and two large playrooms. He is a single child and attends a private school. The drive to his school takes two hours, but Harrison's mother enjoys the time with her son in the car. Harrison wants to become a veterinarian.

Kaya and her parents live in a small apartment in Tokyo. The shelves in the 4-year-old's room are packed with dolls and stuffed animals. Kaya's mother sews the girl's dresses — usually up to three a month. Kaya wears a school uniform to class, however. When she grows up, she wants to be a comic artist and draw Japanese anime.

Not every child has a bed of their own. Indira's house in Kathmandu in Nepal has a single room. At night, the 7-year-old and her siblings sleep together on a mattress on the floor. Indira has been working in a granite quarry for four years — dangerous work, as many of the children there do not wear safety goggles. She would like to be a dancer one day.

Sherap lives in a monastery in Nepal. The 10-year-old shares a room with 79 other boys who are being trained as monks. They sleep in bunk beds and have few personal belongings. Sherap's parents sent him there.They believe that it will bring good luck to the family if one of their sons enters the monastery.

Jasmine, 7, and her family live in a big house in Kentucky, USA. Crowns and sashes she won in children's beauty contests decorate her room. She trains for stage shows every day — an expensive hobby that costs her parents up to several thousand dollars per contest.

Ahkohxet is a member of the Kraho tribe, which lives in the Amazon basin in Brazil. The Kraho believe the Earth was created by the sun and the moon. The red color on the 8-year-old boy's chest is part of a tribal ritual. The nearby river provides them with water. They grow half of their own food in infertile soil.

Thai, 11, her sisters and her parents lives on the third floor of an apartment block in Rio de Janeiro. Her parents are not very wealthy, but the family gets by. The girl has papered her room with posters of Felipe Dylon, a Brazilian pop star. The exhibition "Where Children Sleep" is on at the Edwin Scharff Museum in the German city of Neu-Ulm until February 6, 2022.