1. Material World photographer Peter Menzel with Buddhist monks in Bhutan
The following slides feature the homes and possessions of twelve families whose environments and lifestyles differ from each other in significant ways. Material World photographer Peter Menzel traveled to various countries and invited families to be photographed for this project. Each family that agreed to participate was asked to place all of its possessions in front of the family home. This created the scene we see in each family’s “Big Picture.” The photographs provide a revealing glimpse into the families’ daily lives. They also reveal information about the societies in which the families live and their most important values. As you go through the following slides, think about the similarities and differences between the various families and their environments and cultures. In what ways can you relate to each family’s experience? What are the most striking differences between your life and theirs?
Material World photographer Peter Menzel with Buddhist monks in Bhutan

2. United States Third largest country; largest national economy
The United States is the third most populous country in the world and has the world’s largest national economy. It is also an extremely culturally diverse nation. About three-quarters of Americans identify themselves as Christian, but people in the U.S. practice many other religions as well.
Americans are accustomed to change, and present-day challenges for many Americans include coping with strains between religious values and secular ideals, finding ways to curb the expansion of crime and other social ills, and solving the country’s increasing environmental problems.
Although it’s difficult to define the “typical” American family, the Skeen family presented on the following slides is fairly representative of a large portion of the American middle class.
Rick and Pattie Skeen's 1,600-square-foot house lies on a cul-de-sac in Pearland, Texas, a suburb of Houston. The fire hydrant in this photo is real, but not working— a souvenir from Rick's days as a firefighter. Rick, 36, now splices cables for a phone company. Pattie, 34, teaches school at a Christian academy. To get the picture, photographers hoisted the family up in a cherry picker. Yet the image still leaves out a refrigerator-freezer, camcorder, woodworking tools, computer, glass butterfly collection, trampoline, fishing equipment, and the rifles Rick uses for deer hunting, among other things. Though rich with possessions, nothing is as important to the Skeens as their Bible. For this devoutly Baptist family, like many families around the world, it is a spiritual—rather than material—life that matters most.
U.S. Stats Population: 292 million Population density: 29 people per sq. km. Total fertility rate: 2.0 children per woman Population doubling time: 116 years Percentage urban/rural: 78% urban, 22% rural Per capita energy use: 8,148 kg. oil equivalent Infant mortality: 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births Life expectancy: 74 (male), 80 (female) Adult illiteracy: 3% (male), 3% (female) Internet users: 165 million
Third largest country; largest national economy
Three-quarters Christian
Modern societal strains

4. Bhutan Small, mountainous country Traditional agricultural lifestyle
Bhutan is a tiny, mountainous country nestled between India and Tibet. Its people practice Buddhism and live a very traditional lifestyle. Most people farm and live in small villages. In an effort to preserve the country’s traditional characteristics, the Bhutanese government allows relatively few tourists to enter the country each year.
The Bhutanese people have a low life expectancy, a high rate of infant mortality, and high levels of infectious disease. In recent years, however, Bhutan has made significant advances in longevity and curtailing disease: for example, life expectancy has gone up nearly 12 years in the past decade alone, and increased access to safe water and sanitation has reduced the spread of infection-based illnesses. Government programs have made plastic pipe available for bringing water from unpolluted sources to people’s homes and have also mandated the use of pit latrines in place of “going bush.” Bhutan still has to deal with environmental degradation that has resulted from large livestock herds that overgraze, as well as a rising demand for wood to be used for fuel.
The following slides present a photograph of the Namgay family and their home in the small village of Shinka, Bhutan.
Small, mountainous country
Traditional agricultural lifestyle
Social, medical, and environmental difficulties

6. People in the photo [foreground]: Nalim (53, family matriarch and wife of Namgay), Zekom (9, daughter of Nalim and Namgay), Bangum (also called Kinley, 21, daughter of Nalim and Namgay), and Namgay (57, family patriarch and husband of Nalim); [background] Sangay (wife of Sangay Kandu) holding Tandin Wangchuck (7 months), Sangay Kandu (husband of Sangay), Sangay Zam (12, daughter of Sangay Kandu and Sangay), Chato Geltshin (12, son of Sangay Kandu and Sangay), Geltshin (9, son of Sangay Kandu and Sangay), Choeden (16, daughter of Sangay Kandu and Sangay), Chato Namgay (14, monk, son of Sangay Kandu and Sangay), and Drupchu (50, brother of Nalim).

7. Cuba Island country in the Caribbean
Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. Its northern shore lies only 90 miles south of the southern tip of Florida.
In the 19th century, Cuba was a Spanish colony and a major sugar producer, primarily because of the significant number of African slaves who worked on the plantations. During the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States helped the Cubans win their independence from Spain—although the U.S. military occupied Cuba until Though technically a democracy, for most of the first half of the 20th century Cuba was ruled by a series of dictators. In 1959, Fidel Castro led a successful revolution and transformed Cuba into a socialist state. Under Castro’s leadership, Cuba has developed the best health and education systems in Latin America, but has also experienced repression and suffered economically from a debilitating trade embargo by the United States, whose government considers Castro an enemy.
You will now meet the Costa family of Havana.
Island country in the Caribbean
Major sugar producer in the 19th century; African slaves
Fidel Castro

9. Left to right, front row: Euripedes Costa (husband of Angelina, father of Eulina, Ramon, and Orlando), Angelina Allouis (wife of Euripedes, mother of Eulina, Ramon, and Orlando), Eulina Costa Allouis (42, daughter of Euripedes and Angelina and mother of Iris and Javier), Iris (daughter of Eulina), and Javier (son of Eulina). Back row: Sandra Raymond (wife of Ramon, mother of Lisandra and Favio), Lisandra (16, daughter of Sandra and Ramon), Ramon Allouis Costa (son of Euripedes and Angelina, husband of Sandra, father of Lisandra and Favio), and Favio (6, son of Sandra and Ramon). Far back: Orlando Costa Allouis and his wife and two children (who were not part of the original Material World picture because they didn’t live nearby at the time).
Although the house seems to have gotten smaller as the children got bigger, part of the reason may be the increase in material possessions as well. New possessions in the Euripedes house: television, fan, two large chairs, sofa covering, dining room set, telephone, blender, dish washer, gas stove, wall clock, and wall hanging. New in Eulina’s House: gas stove, ceramic deer, television, VCR, television stand, black and white television, and wall hanging. New in Ramon’s house: television, boombox, leather briefcase (Sandra’s), dining room set, wireless phone; couch, chairs, low white table, and two new dogs.
This photograph shows the family in 2001, along with the new possessions they’d acquired since the original photograph was taken.

10. Mali Vast mineral resources and cultural wealth A very poor country
Mali is a West African country with enormous mineral resources and a vibrant culture that has produced unique sculpture, music, and architecture. Despite these assets, the people of this sparsely populated and impoverished country have a much lower life expectancy and a higher infant mortality rate than people in most other countries.
From the 13th to the 16th century, Mali was a wealthy kingdom that served as a crossroads between northern Islamic and southern African cultures. The French colonized this region in the 1880s and ruled it until 1960.
In the following slides, you will learn about the Natomo family of Kouakourou, Mali.
It is not unusual in this West African country for men to have two wives, as 39-year-old Soumana Natomo does. More wives mean more progeny—and a greater chance you will be supported in old age. Soumana now has eight children, and his wives, Pama Kondo (28) and Fatouma Niangani Toure (26), will likely have more. How many of these children will survive, though, is uncertain: Mali's infant mortality rate ranks among the ten highest in the world. Some of the family's possessions are not included in this photo—another mortar and pestle for pounding grain, two wooden mattress platforms, 30 mango trees, and old radio batteries that the children use as toys. (Note: The Natomos appear on the adobe roof of their house in Kouakourou. An infant son is nestled in his mother's arms. One daughter is absent.)
Mali Stats Population: 12 million Population density: 9.1 people per sq. km. Total fertility rate: 7.0 children per woman Population doubling time: 23 years Percentage urban/rural: 26% urban, 64% rural Per capita energy use: 22 kg. oil equivalent Infant mortality: deaths per 1,000 births Life expectancy: 48 (male), 49 (female) Adult illiteracy: 64% (male), 84% (female) Internet users: 30,000
Vast mineral resources and cultural wealth
A very poor country
At one time, a very wealthy kingdom
Former French colony

12. Front row, left to right: Fourou (12, daughter of Fatoumata and Soumana), Mamadou (10, son of Pama and Soumana), Fatoumata (10, daughter of Fatoumata and Soumana), Mama (8, son of Fatoumata and Soumana), and Kansy (4, son of Fatoumata and Soumana). Back row, left to right: Soumana Natomo (46, husband of Pama and Fatoumata), Pama Kondo (35, wife of Soumana and co-wife of Fatoumata Toure), Mama (13, son of Pama and Soumana), Kontie (16, son of Pama and Soumana), Pai (18, daughter of Pama and Soumana), and Fatoumata, (33, wife of Soumana and co-wife of Pama) holding Tena (4 months, daughter of Fatoumata and Soumana).
New possessions: The family’s only new material possessions since 1993 are a few pieces of clothing, arranged in front of them on the roof of their earthen house; a plastic teapot; and a new storage room in the market area. Part of the courtyard has been repaired and replastered in the years since the first picture. Since the original photo was taken in 1993, Soumana Natomo has gained greater importance in the community’s administration due in large part to his quiet demeanor and gentle disposition—good qualities for an arbiter of village affairs. Pama Kondo, his first wife, is a grain trader who works alongside Soumana; they have built this into a business that supports the family of 15 people (including three extended family members who now live with the family).
This photograph shows the family in 2001, along with the new possessions they’d acquired since the original photograph was taken.

13. Kuwait Small country along the Persian Gulf Vast petroleum resources
Kuwait is a small country on the Persian Gulf that lies adjacent to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. After World War II, Kuwait became very wealthy from its petroleum industry, and its economy flourished throughout most of the 20th century.
Today, many Kuwaitis live in mansions and have servants, who outnumber their employers by a ratio of three to one. However, Kuwait still suffers from the effects of the invasion by neighboring Iraq in The Kuwaiti desert now contains land mines, and Iraq burned many of the country’s oil fields. The retreating Iraqi forces set more than 700 oil wells on fire, creating one of the world’s biggest environmental nightmares. Kuwait found its financial resources depleted and now faces an uncertain future. The country still has vast oil resources and a relatively tiny population.
The following slides feature the home, possessions, and neighborhood of the Abdulla family, who live in Kuwait City.
Small country along the Persian Gulf
Vast petroleum resources
Economy flourished in the 20th century
Severely damaged by 1990 Iraq invasion

15. South Africa Mineral wealth Apartheid Soweto
Lying at the southern tip of the African continent, South Africa has vast mineral wealth and is famous for its gold and diamond industries. It is also known for its system of apartheid, which was repealed in the 1990s. Apartheid legally segregated South Africa’s population, placing black, “colored,” and Indian people into separate categories inferior to whites. The people of South Africa still have to deal with the ramifications of apartheid, and many racial struggles continue to this day.
The Qampie family pictured in the following slides lives in Soweto, a neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city. Soweto developed as a group of South African townships (areas in which non-white South Africans were forced to live in order to separate them from whites). Soweto’s townships are overwhelmingly black, and it is one of the poorest areas of Johannesburg. The name “Soweto” comes from “South West Township” (the first two letters of each word).
Mineral wealth
Apartheid
Soweto

17. Mongolia Sparsely populated Formerly communist, now democratic
The center of a vast empire in the 13th century, Mongolia today is a sparsely populated country that lies between China and Russia. Mongolia aligned with the communist politics of the Soviet Union during most of the 20th century, but became a democracy in Since then, Mongolia has gradually adapted to a market-based economy, gaining some of its benefits but also suffering the accompanying problems of increasing unemployment and falling output.
Almost one-third of Mongolians are nomadic or semi-nomadic, moving around the land in search of pasture for their herds of livestock. Another third of the population lives in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Many people on the outskirts of the city live in traditional dwellings but commute to city jobs—including the Regzen family, whom you will meet in the following slides.
Sparsely populated
Formerly communist, now democratic
One-third of people are nomadic or semi-nomadic; one-third live in the capital city

19. From left to right: Batbileg (12, son), Regzen Batsuuri (44, father), Oyuntsetseg (38, mother), and Khorloo (17, daughter).
By this time, the family had moved to a Soviet-style apartment, which they shared with an old lady and another tenant. The only new possession they had acquired since the earlier photograph was a color TV set.
In the 1990s, the family took advantage of new economic opportunities: the father built a house next to the ger with materials stockpiled over a number of years, and his wife opened a small pharmacy with her former colleagues from the state-run pharmacy where she had worked before. It was a heady time for the family, and their extended family also lived with them in the house/ger compound at the edge of the city. However, Oyuntsetseg and her co-workers had taken a loan to help support their private pharmacy. They ended up borrowing too much and didn’t understand the concept of compound interest. The debt built up, and when they couldn’t pay, Oyuntsetseg’s family lost everything they had accumulated, including their ger and their house. The family of four now lives in a small apartment. They now have the running water they’d dreamed of, but they don’t own the apartment, renting one room from an 83-year-old Russian immigrant named Tanya, who also lives there. Oyuntsetseg now runs a 24-hour pharmacy in another rented room nearby.
This photograph shows the family in 2001, along with the new possessions they’d acquired since the original photograph was taken.

20. Japan Major changes in the past century
Japan has undergone enormous changes in the past century, moving from a rural, agricultural country to a highly industrialized one. Most of this development occurred after World War II. Today, most residents of this mountainous island country live in densely populated urban areas on the coast.
In many ways, the life of a typical Japanese family resembles that of a typical American family. Families in both countries enjoy technological conveniences, such as computers, at home, and enroll their children in various recreational activities in addition to school. The Japanese, however, have retained some elements of their traditional culture, including Japanese food. Japanese families live in much smaller dwellings than the average American family, due in large part to the population density and the high cost of property
As you go through the following slides of the Ukita family’s home, consider the similarities and differences you notice between Japanese and American families and houses.
Like many Japanese women, 43-year-old Sayo Ukita had children relatively late in life. Her youngest daughter is now in kindergarten, not yet burdened by the pressures of exams and Saturday "cram school" that face her nine-year-old sister. Sayo is supremely well-organized, which helps her manage the busy schedules of her children and maintain order in their 1,421-square-foot Tokyo home stuffed with clothes, appliances, and an abundance of toys for both her daughters and dog. She and her husband Kazuo, 45, have all the electronic and gas-powered conveniences of modern life, but their most cherished possessions are a ring and heirloom pottery. The family's wish for the future: a larger house with more storage space.
Japan Stats Population: 128 million Population density: 336 people per sq. km. Total fertility rate: 1.3 children per woman Population doubling time: 289 years Percentage urban/rural: 79% urban, 21% rural Per capita energy use: 4,316 kg. oil equivalent Infant mortality: 3 deaths per 1,000 births Life expectancy: 78 (male), 85 (female) Adult illiteracy: 1% (male), 1% (female) Internet users: 56 million
Major changes in the past century
Most people live in urban areas on the coasts
Similarities and differences between Japanese and American families

22. Left to right: Mio Ukita (17, daughter), Sayo Ukita (mother and wife), Maya Ukita (14, daughter), and Kazuo Ukita (father and husband).
New possessions include two single beds from Sayo and Kazuo’s room, blankets and sheets, washing machine, rice cooker, electric water pot, cordless phone, vacuum cleaner, gas stove, table, porcelain elephant, globe, 3 clocks, teapot, white pottery, selection of books, VCR, hula hoop, massage chair, Othello game, car, new desk, two CD players, many CDs, well over one hundred comic books, Walkman, stuffed animals, two mobile phones, plastic organizer drawers, futon, chair, clothes valet, computer, full-length mirror, vanity and stool, exercise stepper, rocking chair, and air cleaner.
Sayo Ukita and her husband Kazuo continue to live in the manicured suburb of northwest Tokyo called Kodaira City. Their daughter Mio is a first-year university student, concentrating on biology (her first field experience, in May, involved milking a cow). Daughter Maya, 14, attends the eighth grade and still plays the piano. The family has replaced a great deal of their belongings since the original picture was taken. Their dog Izumaru has died, but they did not replace him. Mio has a new laptop for school, and both girls have mobile phones. The Nintendo game player is still hooked up to the family’s extra television set in the dining room, but it is not used as often as it had been when the girls were younger.
This photograph shows the family in 2001, along with the new possessions they’d acquired since the original photograph was taken.

23. China Communist Country Most populous country with 1.4 billion people
Japan has undergone enormous changes in the past century, moving from a rural, agricultural country to a highly industrialized one. Most of this development occurred after World War II. Today, most residents of this mountainous island country live in densely populated urban areas on the coast.
In many ways, the life of a typical Japanese family resembles that of a typical American family. Families in both countries enjoy technological conveniences, such as computers, at home, and enroll their children in various recreational activities in addition to school. The Japanese, however, have retained some elements of their traditional culture, including Japanese food. Japanese families live in much smaller dwellings than the average American family, due in large part to the population density and the high cost of property
As you go through the following slides of the Ukita family’s home, consider the similarities and differences you notice between Japanese and American families and houses.
The nine members of this extended family—father Wu Ba Jiu (59), mother Guo Yu Xian (57), their sons, daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren—live in a three-bedroom, 600-square-foot dwelling in rural Yunnan Province. While they have no telephone, they get news and images of a wider world through two radios and the family's most prized possession, a television. In the future, they hope to get one with a 30-inch screen as well as a VCR, a refrigerator, and drugs to combat diseases in the carp they raise in their ponds. Not included in the photo are their 100 mandarin trees, vegetable patch, and three pigs.
China Stats Population: 1.3 billion Population density: 627 people per sq. km. Total fertility rate: 1.7 children per woman Population doubling time: 67 years Percentage urban/rural: 37% urban, 63% rural Per capita energy use: 905 kg. oil equivalent Infant mortality: 32 deaths per 1,000 births Life expectancy: 69 (male), 73 (female) Adult illiteracy: 7.9% (male), 22.1% (female) Internet users: 46 million
Communist Country
Most populous country with 1.4 billion people
Communist gov’t enacted one child policy to curb overpopulation, switched to two child policy in 2015

25. India Second most populous country with 1.2 billion people
Japan has undergone enormous changes in the past century, moving from a rural, agricultural country to a highly industrialized one. Most of this development occurred after World War II. Today, most residents of this mountainous island country live in densely populated urban areas on the coast.
In many ways, the life of a typical Japanese family resembles that of a typical American family. Families in both countries enjoy technological conveniences, such as computers, at home, and enroll their children in various recreational activities in addition to school. The Japanese, however, have retained some elements of their traditional culture, including Japanese food. Japanese families live in much smaller dwellings than the average American family, due in large part to the population density and the high cost of property
As you go through the following slides of the Ukita family’s home, consider the similarities and differences you notice between Japanese and American families and houses.
At age 25, Mashre Yadev is already mother to four children, the oldest of whom was born when she was 17. Each morning at their home in rural Uttar Pradesh, she draws water from a well so that her older children can wash before school. She cooks over a wood fire in a windowless, six-by-nine-foot kitchen, and such labor-intensive domestic work keeps her busy from dawn to dusk. Her husband Bachau, 32, works roughly 56 hours a week, when he can find work. In rough times, family members have gone more than two weeks with little food. Everything they own—including two beds, three bags of rice, a broken bicycle, and their most cherished belonging, a print of Hindu gods—appears in this photograph.
India Stats Population: 1.0 billion Population density: 318 people per sq. km. Total fertility rate: 3.0 children per woman Population doubling time: 36 years Percentage urban/rural: 28% urban, 72% rural Per capita energy use: 494 kg. oil equivalent Infant mortality: 66 deaths per 1,000 births Life expectancy: 62 (male), 64 (female) Adult illiteracy: 32% (male), 55% (female) Internet users: 7 million
Second most populous country with 1.2 billion people
Vast terrain – from Himalayan peaks to Indian Ocean coastline
Population density is 386 people/km2

27. Iceland A highly developed country Natural energy resources
Originally settled by Norwegians in the ninth century, Iceland has become a highly developed country with some of the world’s top rankings in such categories as life expectancy, per capita income, and health-care spending. This island nation is blessed with natural energy sources in the form of rivers flowing down its slopes and 200 volcanoes. The hydroelectric and geothermal power that these two resources create help the country meet almost all of its energy needs. This abundance of natural energy contributes to Iceland’s high standard of living and clean air. Iceland’s economy includes fishing, manufacturing, and service industries.
The Thoroddsen family, whom you’ll meet in the next few slides, lives in Hafnarfjörður, a town on Iceland’s southwest coast not far from the capital city of Reykjavík.
A highly developed country
Natural energy resources

29. This photograph shows the family in 2004.
Björn Thoroddsen, his wife Margret (Linda) Gunnlaugsdóttir, and their children outside their house in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, near Reykjavík. The family is standing in the same order as they did for the family portrait for Material World in December Left to right: Sif Hauksdóttir, 28; Björn Thoroddsen, 57; Gestur Björnsson, 21; Thórdis Björnsdóttir, 17; Margret (Linda) Gunnlaugsdóttir, 52; and Gunnlaugur Björnsson, 23.
This photograph shows the family in 2004.

30. Thailand Never colonized
Thailand is the only country in southeast Asia that was never colonized by a European power. Its government, a constitutional monarchy, has remained relatively stable compared to those of other southeast Asian countries. Its economic indicators increased significantly in the last part of the 20th century, although growth slowed due to an economic crisis in the late 1990s.
95% of Thai people are Buddhist, and Buddhism is central to many parts of Thai culture.
The next slides introduce you to the Kuankaew family of Ban Muang Wa.
Never colonized
Relatively stable government and growing economy
Buddhist culture

32. Samoa Formerly called Western Samoa
Called Western Samoa until 1997, Samoa is a small country in the South Pacific. The country is comprised of nine volcanic islands. Traditional Samoan culture revolves around fishing and farming. Samoans retain many of their cultural traditions, but the pressures of modernization have had an impact on their culture and lifestyle, particularly with regard to the introduction of modern technologies. Almost all Samoans are Christian, and churches play a very important role in modern Samoan life.
The following slides will introduce you to the Lagavale family of Poutasi village.
Formerly called Western Samoa
Traditional culture with some modernization
Christianity

34. Mexico World’s largest Spanish-speaking country
Mexico is the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country. The country is in the process of rapid industrialization, which has lead to vast disparities between the affluent and poor members of Mexican society. Nevertheless, a growing number of working-class Mexicans have made their way into the middle class. Mexico has become increasingly urbanized, with about 75% of Mexicans currently living in urban areas.
The Castillo Balderas family, featured on the next few slides, lives in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city.
World’s largest Spanish-speaking country
Rapid industrialization
Emerging middle class
Increasing urbanization