A camera's-eye view: our 'Material World.' (profiles of families in 'Material World: A Global Family Portrait')

Award-winning American photojournalist Peter Menzel sees his book, "Material World: A Global Family Portrait", as a rich, visual tapestry, documenting the close of the twentieth century. In an up-close and revealing way, the photographic essay focuses on portraits of average families from some 30 nations, shown outside their homes, surrounded by thee material possessions. The text and pictures together provide a view not only of what they own, but also of their lifestyles. economies, cultures and values.

Yale University Professor Paul Kennedy calls Mr. Menzel's project "a bold and imaginative experiment, an attempt to capture, through photos and statistics, both the common humanity of peoples inhabiting our earth and the great differences in material goods and circumstances that make rich and poor societies".

The book, published in 1994, was assembled with UN help as a contribution to the International Year of the Family. Many of the photographs were exhibited at UN Headquarters last year as part of the preparatory process leading to the World Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), to be held in Istanbul, Turkey in June 1996.

Mr. Menzel got the idea for the name of his book from the words of American rock star Madonna's song, "Material Girl". With information from the UN, the World Bank and an independent research company, he created profiles of "statistically average" families that he chose for his subjects for the project.

He began by photographing families in japan, South Africa and Mali. Then he assembled a team of expert photojournalists from seven countries, travelling the world and shooting 2,000 rolls of film and more than 100 hours of video tape. He selected the countries from a list of UN Member States; only one declined to participate in the project.

One family Mr. Menzel found especially interesting was the Regzens from Mongolia, a traditionally nomadic society, which now has more than 60 per cent of its citizens living in urban areas.

Used to living in their "gers"--portable tents used over the centuries so the nomadic herdsmen could follow their animals to new grazing grounds--the urban dwellers of Mongolia, Mr. Menzel says. now live on little plots of land, still using these tents as their dwelling. hen they get enough money", he says, "they will probably build a permanent house modest. more like a shack, but somewhat more comfortable than what they had before."

Teasets in the tent

The Regzen family includes father, mother two children, the father's sister and her daughter, as well as the wife's sister and her husband. Most of the family is shown in front of their tent, surrounded by their possessions, including a china cabinet with stickers of Disney cartoon characters "Chip" and Dale". two family portraits, two ceramic horses, a ceramic and a bronze Buddha. two teasels, a dresser with a vanity mirror. topped by an alarm clock, a twin bed with a woven coverlet, and a dining room table.

Inside the ger, one can see a variety of food a teapot, more figurines, soft drinks. a hotplate and enamelled plates hanging from the wall. A fluorescent light fixture is suspended from the peak of the ger. A sheep grazes nea-rbY

Regzen Batsuury. a truck driver and free-lance construction worker, and his wife, Lkhamsuren Oyuntsetseg, who works full-time in the pharmacy of the local hospital, live in Ulan Bator. Mr. Menzel says they describe themselves as "comfortable" but not completely satisfied with their way of life. They want their children to have a better life through education and property. They value the old ways and cherish family heirlooms, but are still anxious to reap the benefits of the 20th century.

Almost every family he visited had electricity, owned a television set and spent a lot of time watching it.

"The problem with TV", he says, "is that it raises false expectations. People in a lot of poor countries look at Western television shows and get the wrong idea about what life is really like. They think that everyone else is rich and expect things to come out of the sky."

Besides the book's "Big Picture" section--the shots of families with all their possessions--the other sections are: "Meals of the World", "Toilets of the World" (from marble and electrically-heated to outhouses), and "Televisions of the World".

It took as little as one hour to set up a family picture, as in Mali, as compared to ten hours in Kuwait. In Israel, it took several days to build a platform to raise the family to their apartment building window.

Did some families seem ashamed of their meagre possessions? Mr. Menzel replied: "We photographed in poor countries, but the families were not poor people. They were statistically average so they did not feel their situation in that way. You might think the Ethiopians, for example, are poor, but they don't feel so. They're proud of what they have."

The Getu family of Ethiopia consists of seven members, Their modest home is 320 square feet. They own a radio, but no other electrical appliance. They grow their own food. Their most valued possession: a pair of oxen.

What is their wish for the future? To own more animals, a second set of clothes and better seed stock and farm implements. They also wish for peace in the area and in the world.

Photographers spent a week living with each family they photographed. "There was a lot of stress at times because we were asking them to do so many things. reducing their daily lives to a series of photographs. Nevertheless, we built up relationships that were friendly", he says.

Strong family values 

The Skeens of Houston, Texas, have two children: Michael and Julie. Their home measures 1,600 square feet. Among their possessions are 3 radios, 2 televisions, 5 telephones. a VCR, a computer. a truck, a car and a dune buggy. They have particularly strong family values, he said, praying before every meal, but making no attempt to convert others to their Baptist beliefs. They, too, wanted security--financial as well as physical--more leisure time, and a better education for their children.

"The encouraging thing", the photographer says, "is that people who agreed to take part in this project embraced the idea of sharing their lives with the rest of the world. They knew they were going to make some sacrifices, but they thought, for the greater good, we'll open up our lives to show what we have so that other people can learn from us and we, in turn, can learn from them. That's the point of the whole project."

When asked for a common denominator among all the families interviewed, Mr. Menzel replies that the answer is easy: they all considered their family as their most precious possession.