For almost eight years Lionel Jusseret lived, worked and photographed at the Association J’interviendrais, an organization which offers respite for children with autism spectrum disorders or pervasive developmental disorders. There he met children with autism, children who are said to be psychotic or schizophrenic, children who suffered abuse, and encountered various words Western society uses to define those who suffer from disabilities. “The more I see them the more I think they look like children,” he says, “extraordinary, sincere, raw, and wild, with an indefinable mystery that escapes medicine, science, or any other rationality.” Jusseret tried to capture this “mystery” by searching for something unpredictable: a gesture, an attitude, a look. “If the words measure the gap between them and us, then no more words. Just their silent eyes.”
