The Birthday Party photo series is an unsettling collection of children's portraits inspired by the anniversaries of Vee Speers's own daughter. The pictures capture the duplicitary nature of children, both brutal and defenseless, sweeping tiresome stereotypes about childhood like “the happiest period of life” cliché.

Watching children eagerly playing adult-roles, Speers pushed their role-playing to artistic extremes. There’s the nurse and the soldier – two favorite characters in children’s games - but there’s also a dark angel, a rat exterminator, spooky masks and a dead rabbit. Unpredictable, unburdened by social expectations children are thrilled to play with and embrace the grotesque and the morbid. No wonder they make the best horror movies performers.

Parris-based photographer Vee Speers was born in Australia and studied at Queensland College of Art. She exhibited her work in galleries all around the globe and in major publications including The Sunday Times, Harpers & Queen, Esquire, GQ and Palace Magazine. Her first published photographic book was Bordello (2004) and in autumn 2008 she returned with The Birthday Party series.