EQ by Vivian Rubin & Nazanin Mondschein

Emotional intelligence is a vital part of our individual and collective well-being. Humans experience a wide range of emotions every day, but children—and many adults—don't always have the words to describe them. Inspired by 1970s children’s books that used the unpatronizing medium of documentary-style photography instead of illustration, as well as conceptual artist John Baldessari's "Prima Facie" series (2005–2006), this book prompts us to think about and discuss emotions and how we view them. It features a short introductory narrative around seven-year-old Leo and how he came to learn about “EQ”—"being smart about what’s in your heart”. The following ­­pages are images shot on film of Leo engaged in various activities and expressing different feelings; the medium of photography elicits an intimate engagement with both the subject and subject matter. Accompanying each image is a single descriptive word; however, “the funny thing about feelings is there are so many, and none of them are wrong”, as Leo tells us. One may see a number of emotions in each image of Leo and may feel prompted to imagine a story or context around each—and each re-visit of EQ may yield a different response, depending on one’s own feelings at the time. As such, children and adults alike become aware of the endlessly-varied ways in which we each express and understand the gamut of emotions, as well as the limitation of words to adequately capture them. 44 pages, soft bound, embossed foil stamping front and back cover. Printed in Los Angeles.