I have Madonna to thank for this," laughs photojournalist Peter Menzel. Several years ago, after hearing a National Public Radio segment about the bang-up marketing push behind Madonna's book Sex, a fed-up Menzel embarked on a project to counter the excesses of the penultimate Material Girl. His pet-peeve spawned Material World: A Global Family Portrait, a stunning photography book and documentary-style CD-ROM that looks at the homes and lives of statistically "average" families from around the globe.
Using numbers provided by United Nations and regional experts, Menzel and 16 of the world's foremost photographers tracked down families from 30 countries. After a photographer visited for a week, each family and its precious possessions were moved outdoors - onto manicured lawns, alleyways, dirt roads - and photographed.
The portraits are sometimes misleading, but accompanying stats don't deceive. In Western Samoa, for instance, a large, grinning family surrounded by lush papaya and palm trees is a picture of bliss. But the fine print tells me this paradise ranks Number One in the world for teen suicide. On another page, I find that the handsome people of Bhutan have an average life expectancy of only 49 years for women and 47 for men. And the US is Number One among First World nations in regular church attendance, but Number Three in murder rate! On a lighter note, peeking at a special section on "toilets of the world" erased my embarrassment at occasionally having to tell guests in my home to "jiggle the handle."
The Material World CD-ROM brings even greater life to the subject, echoing the book's same breathtaking photography, and adding spectacular video and elegantly integrated sound. StarPress Multimedia deserves praise for producing a CD-ROM that's not only beautiful, but easy to navigate. The groovy soundtrack features authentic native music. And retired CBS news correspondent Charles Kuralt eloquently narrates each section.
Menzel's attempt to document the average has resulted in pure excellence in both book and the CD-ROM. A portion of sale proceeds goes to a scholarship fund established by the photographers to help Material World's children. Thanks, Madonna.
Material World: A Global Family Portrait: US$30 book; $39.95 Mac and MPC CD-ROM. Sierra Club Books: +1 (415) 291 1600. StarPress Multimedia: (800) 782 7944.
STREET CRED
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Living in a Material World
