We are at a key moment. Obesity is a “silent war” and its own, ignored global pandemic. The condition and its health consequences have been given more consideration since COVID-19 tragically highlighted their effect on antibody responses.

Stories as the catalyst. Telling stories is about engaging audiences through identifiable voices, about engaging one another through understandable human experiences. Stories convey emotions that can mirror and help create empathy, even for those who have not experienced a similar situation. In their calm and stillness, visual stories allow for reflection; they encourage intimate, heartfelt dialogues, and contribute to addressing social taboos.

A 2021 report commissioned by UNESCO, Futures of Education, highlights the need to prepare future generations to become accustomed to rupture rather than optimism. Current and future generations of teenagers will be raised in a very different socio-economic landscape than the generation before. “Documentary photography, which fell out of favour with the rise of manipulated images, is making a comeback,” according to the New York Times, which perhaps makes sense in an era that has shown the limits of politicians willing to stand for truth, public well-being and climate security. The relevance of Abbie Trayler-Smith’s social documentary and first-account testimonies are that they offer a human connection, one essential to entering into a subject matter as complex as obesity. Her body of work is a connector and starting point. It is through the quality of her images that we met.
It is how Novo Nordisks found Abbie to commission her an “Adult Stories” – and they are the leitmotif around which we can anchor and engage viewers.

Multiple stories will create a movement.

A movement has been defined as “a group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas”. That is what we want to do with The Big O: bring people together to make a difference in the fields of mental health, social discourse and political agenda, and bring new confidence to teenagers with creativity, so they can become the reporters of their stories.

The Big O is the opportunity to correct long-term myths and pre-conceptions about being overweight.

With inclusive conversations between teenagers in different parts of the world, constructive debates among international experts, links between academia and grassroots knowledge, the platform could help change personal and public perceptions of obesity. Governments could engage with long-term programmes; companies could re-think their roles and stop feeding humans with addictive products simply to improve their bottom line. Even more importantly, this project could give adolescents a new sense of self-confidence, break the chain of bullying – like that suffered by people like Shannon and Byron – and give them the strength and resilience to find their responses and their own path.

The Big O will be an inclusive social platform with carefully planned technological safeguards, parental permissions, and uplifting content designed for – and by – Generation Z. We can address the subject of obesity with creativity, while not shying away from the reality of the condition.

Building Group Dynamics



Building a Core Tribe



Building Resilience in Utopia and Dystopia

UNESCO’s report The Future of Education report has talked of there being a dire need to prepare young people to manage and productively utilise change more effectively, recognising that society is rarely continuous or “progressive”, but often subject to rupture and upheaval. It requires new narratives that create new possibilities for membership and participation. It recommends that “civic education can be constructively adapted to engage with these ideas by recognizing the power inherent in narratives, counter-narratives, utopias, and dystopias as pedagogic and relational tools in education”.