Have you ever dreamed of traveling around the World? Embarking on a journey where you are not limited to a tourist experience, but rather learn about people’s lives, listen to their stories and get an idea of what their usual day looks like? Nothing compares to a real life experience, but you can also do all this without getting on a plane or even leaving your own living room/desk.
Menzel's book, Material World: A Global Family Portrait
Photojournalist Peter Menzel has taken numerous trips around the world and invites us to join him in visiting people’s homes through the photographs that he had taken. Besides being respected for his coverage of international feature stories on science and the environment, Menzel is also known for producing a number of books that capture the realities of people living in different parts of the world.
His book Material World: A Global Family Portrait (1994) focuses on the material possessions and daily lives of average families around the world. It depicts 30 families from 24 different countries with all their possessions in front of their homes. Pictures are accompanied by essays and background stories of the photographed families. Women in the Material World (1996) is another documentary book, based on his previous work, but focusing specifically on lives of women across the globe.
Another fascinating journey, this time through people’s diets was captured by Menzel in Hungry Planet: What The World Eats (2005) and also in his latest release What I eat: Around the World in 80 Diets (2010). In the first book mentioned, families share what they week diet looks like; in the latter, 80 people are captured with the food and beverages they consume on an average day.
Images from Menzel's book, What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets
To learn more about Menzel’s work and browse through a gallery with a sample of pictures, you can visit Peter Menzel Photography website. Are you and educator and do you wonder how to use this for educational purposes? Then explore the link to educational materials that were developed in addition to the books and that represent an inspiring example of how to bring global perspectives into the classroom.