In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms

by Adrienne Salinger

Few teenagers welcome anyone in their bedrooms, least of all adults. In My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms, photographer Adrienne Salinger has been allowed to enter the private lives of forty-three teens. Her images, taken over a two-year period, offer an intimate glimpse into these intimate escapes and the adolescents who have made them their own. Even small objects in each room reveal much about the hopes, fears, and dreams of each teen pictured: a poster of a heavy metal band on a wall, various religious icons arranged on a shelf, a well-worn stuffed animal on a bed. Salinger's interviews with her subjects accompany each photograph, illuminating the harsh realities of some of their lives. Several of these kids have already had to deal with drugs, pregnancy, physical abuse, racism, and death. In My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms is ultimately about the hope and strength of these tender adolescents approaching the brink of adulthood. Complete with a poignant introduction by Tobias Wolff and an update on each teen today, In My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms provides a compelling look at the subculture of American teenage life.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Adrienne Salinger is an American photographer.
Salinger is best known for her 1995 photo book In My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms. Her work is included in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Institute of Chicago. Salinger is a professor of photography at the University of New Mexico.

Reviews

[gigi devlin]

my mom is in this book lol

[Lynne McCormick]

I am one of the teens in this book. I was very excited to be in it along with my sister and friends.

I have been looking for a copy of this book for quite a while.

If anyone knows where I can find a copy, please let me know. Thanks

[Stephanie]

This book is a perfect snapshot of late 80's to early 90's teenagerhood.

As I was a teenager in that time period it deeply resonates with me and brings back a lot of memories and feelings from that time.

This book was a unique idea and is well put together.

Many of the stories shared by the teenagers were striking and emotional such as the death of a parent,drug and alcohol abuse ect.

But a few of the stories seemed almost frivolous and pointless to me. For example one girl spoke about the cruise her family had went on, another about her pride in and enjoyment of her ultra long fingernails . I suppose they were supposed to illustrate the mundaneness of the teenage experience but they seemed out of place in a book thats mostly full of the travails of navigating the teenage years and soul searching wonderings about themselves and their future.

Also appreciated is the where are they now section in the back although seeing as this book came out in 1995, its long outdated.

[Patti Villegas]

Adrienne was my photography professor in college.

[Blane]

Adolescence is/was really quite an awful time for most of us (or at least it was for me). I came to this 1995 book via a recent "Photo Booth" essay referencing it in The New Yorker. Perhaps they revisited it due to the mass critical acclaim thrust upon the 2025 Netflix show, 'Adolescence', which focuses on the 21st century complexities of this difficult time of life.

The premise of Salinger's work is deceivingly simple: In the early-90s, she photographed teens in their bedrooms as they are (no cleaning up, straightening, etc.), while asking questions about their lives, hopes, and dreams. This leaves us with a captivating visual time capsule of the period...and real life stories that are at times optimistic, heartbreaking, and frightening. Many of these teens have endured family trauma, intense bullying, mental illness, and substance abuse issues. The afterword "where are they now" (roughly 3-5 years later) ends the project on a generally uplifting note. I'd really like to know where they are NOW...30 years later.

[Dnyria]

As a KID entering adulthood this actually made me very sad (but also hopeful lol). All of these teenagers are so optimistic of their futures and then to read the “where are they now” afterword was so nice to see a lot of them fulfilling those dreams…also some of these kids had already lived such hard and gruesome lives at such young ages— dear god!! This was such a fun read though, im a firm believer that one’s bedroom provides such a unique understanding to a person’s personality. It’s the place where many of us feel most comfortable, and having the ability to reflect our interests on our walls and shelves and tables in this private and sacred place is so much fun… yay Adolescence

[talia ♡]

not to sound trite, but this book changed my life when i was 13.

[Kirsten]

Pretty good ... though more 90's stuff. Not sure that a lot of kids would relate to this now ... but their parents will.

[Lafcadio]

Oh, the 80s... Don't remember where this one came from.