1. Living in a Material World “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” Epictetus

2.  What? A photo collection of average families from around the world and their possessions  Why? Peter Menzel was inspired to look at what people around the world value after reflecting on his own culture and what we value in North America.  How? He selected different families that represented the statistical average of the country and photographed them in front of their homes,

3. The Natomo family lives in two mud brick houses in the village of Kouakourou, Mali. They are grain traders and own a mango orchard. According to tradition, patriarch Soumana Natomo is allowed to take up to four wives; he has two, Pama and Fatoumata. They have separate households, but share meals in the courtyard of Pama's house.

4. 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.

5. The Yadev family at their home in rural Uttar Pradesh. Mashre, is mother to four, the oldest of whom was born when she was 17. 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 32 year old husband, Bachau, 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.

6. The Castillo Balderas family of Guadalajara, Mexico, outside their home with all of their possessions.

7. The Ukita family in front of their home in Tokyo.

8. NALIM AND NAMGAY IN SHINGKHEY, BHUTAN Nalim and Namgay are subsistence farmers who live with their family in a three-story, rammed-earth house in the 14-house village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Nalim and her daughter care for the children and farm. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill purchased from the government. He also reads sacred texts and conducts house cleansing and healing ceremonies

9. The Lagavale family lives in a small tin-roofed open-air house in Poutasi Village, Western Samoa. The Lagavales have pigs, chickens, a few calves, fruit trees and a vegetable garden. They farm, fish and make crafts to support themselves. They also work for others locally, which helps supplement their modest needs

10. Rick works for the telephone company and Patty is a part time teacher

11.  Peter Menzel’s website Peter Menzel’s website  http://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery- collection/Material-World-A-Global-Family-Portrait- by-Country/C0000d0DI3dBy4mQ http://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery- collection/Material-World-A-Global-Family-Portrait- by-Country/C0000d0DI3dBy4mQ  Material Culture  http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/historians- craft/griffin-monahan/ http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/historians- craft/griffin-monahan/

12.  Peter Menzel portrait project  Families from around the world with a week of food

16. http://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hu ngry-Planet-Family-Food- Portraits/G0000zmgWvU6SiKM/C0000k7JgEHh Eq0w

17. Red Team Persona

18. Persona Project: Jason Travis