A family from Tokyo, settled on the sidewalk around their television, crowded by neatly organized electronic appliances, expelled closets, and prized heirloom pottery. Two wives, a husband, and their children in West Africa’s Mali, on the roof of their hut with the tools of their agricultural toils. A Baptist family, smiling and clutching an illustrated Bible on the suburban road loaded with furniture and appliances in Houston, Texas. Photographer Peter Menzel began his project Material World: A Global Family Portrait back in the ’90s, traveling to 30 countries around the world to capture families with most of their possessions. Using data from United Nations and the World Bank, he searched for “average” families — average in location, size, background, and occupation. Check out the resulting, slightly dated but utterly fascinating portraits in our gallery and see what sort of a material world we’re living in.
Tokyo from Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Manzell and Faith D’Aluisio
Comments (9)
What a nice collection of images from different families all around the globe.
Thanks for sharing.
[...] Things They Carry: Annoyed you can’t get that big-screen TV? See families around the world posing with their possessions to get some perspective. (Flavorwire) [...]
Wow, blue skies in China.
[...] ソース：Flavorwire » Photos From Around the World of Families and Their Possessions [...]
This pictorial book was published in early 90s. It is a fantastic journal of the world. Though I wonder whether Peter and Faith (authors) know their pictures are circulated on the web this way… I personally know how much effort they paid for these projects so just wondering…
[...] Since the 1990s, Menzel has been traveling the globe and analyzing UN and World Bank statistics to find statistically average families. He then asks them to step outside with all of their possessions so he can visually compare the average family from one country to another. The results might not be the most accurate comparison of the wealth of people from any given country, but they’re absolutely fascinating to look at. Check it out over at Flavorpill. [...]
[...] Since the 1990s, Menzel has been traveling the globe and analyzing UN and World Bank statistics to find statistically average families. He then asks them to step outside with all of their possessions so he can visually compare the average family from one country to another. The results might not be the most accurate comparison of the wealth of people from any given country, but they’re absolutely fascinating to look at. Check it out over at Flavorpill. [...]
Completely off topic, but…Man, I would be so angry if I were that Russian family. All (or most?) of their possessions are out in the snow… :/
[...] Menzel’s photos of people with everything they own are fascinating. (Thanks for sharing, [...]
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