South African-born photographer John Thackwray probably doesn't spend much time in his bedroom. Why? Because he's too busy photographing the bedrooms of others!
He's spent over 6 years photographing over one thousand people's bedrooms from 55 countries for his photo-series titled My Room Project. It started out as a bit of fun with friends in Paris but since then his project has taken him everywhere from Mexico and Russia to Nepal and Japan. Thackwray only photographs the bedrooms of people born in the 80s and 90s in order to capture and compare the different hopes and aspirations of one particular generation. He also interviews them about various topics including lifestyle, local issues, education, religion, and love, and he's combined a selection of his photographs and interviews for a book that's available for pre-order on his website.
More info: John Thackwray (h/t: brightside)
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Manyatta, Kenya, Ezekiel, 22--Year-Old Warrior
Joy can be found everywhere, even in such difficult circumstances. I wonder why we, who are so much more well-off, can't find a way to smile like this man sometimes.
Why do you assume he's not well off? You don't know anything about his circumstances.
Load More Replies...He is a Maasai tribesman. He could just as easily be called a soldier or a cowboy. Both are accurate descriptions of their way of life.
Load More Replies...La Paz, Bolivia, Marcello, 18-Year-Old High School Student
Tehran, Iran, Elahe, 29-Year-Old Painter
Kathmandu, Nepal, Pema, 22-Year-Old Buddhism Student
Zhambyl, Kazakhstan, Zhalay, 18-Year-Old High School Student
And this is nowhere close to reality of an 18-year old kid. The yurts are only used in summer. Take it from a girl who was born In Zhambyl currently known as Taraz, Kazakhstan
Paris, France, Joseph, 30-Year-Old Artist
Kingston, Jamaica, Camille
Istanbul, Turkey, Gulle
Bucharest, Romania, Andreea, 24-Year-Old Civil Engineer
that fan looks like it would tickle you in your sleep with those streamers
Tokyo, Japan, Ryoko, 25-Year-Old Information Technology Engineer
Berlin, Germany, Maja, 22-Year-Old Architecture Student
Beirut, Lebanon, Sabrina, 27-Year-Old Kindergarten Teacher
Saint Catherine, Egypt, Mohamed, 18-Year-Old Student Of Traditional Medicine
Dali, China, Yuan, 22-Year-Old Salesperson
I live in China...the separation between rich and poor classes is enormous!
Teheran, Iran, Razieh
Paris, France, Derek, 30-Year-Old Movie Director
Lesotho, Osia, 18-Year-Old Shepherd
Last time I checked Lesotho was very different that South Africa. It is a separate country.
Novosibirsk, Russia, Oleg, 24-Year-Old Telecom Engineer
Sibundoy, Colombia, Marixa, 21-Year-Old Teacher
Cairo, Egypt, Azza, 19-Year-Old Homemaker
Thies, Senegal, Fatou, 17-Year-Old Seamstress
Varanasi, India, Lalu,
Some of these look so... Disney-like! And then others decidedly less so, sadly.
Ban Sai Ngam, Thailand, Fha
Madyah Pradesh, India, Asha, 17-Year-Old Homemaker
Nairobi, Kenya, Alice, 29-Year-Old Mother
Durban, South Africa, Khetiwe, 22-Year-Old Unemployed
Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, Ronia
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saleh, 30-Year-Old Human Resources Officer
New York, USA, Maleeq, 28-Year-Old Entertainer
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Claudio, 24-Year-Old Archivist
The series is a bit odd. I wonder what the people were told...some rooms look like they supposedely look everyday, others look like they were told to showcase particular hobbies, others like the idea was to depict stereotypes. Ben from Dallas is the perfect example for this. Thus, the series exhibits some interesting views, but getting an idea how people typically sleep around the world is not possible.
A nice thing, though, is that most of these people look rather happy...even if the rooms look what would be considered "poor" from a Western point of view.
Load More Replies...Despite the fact that some rooms seem to ''be prepared'' for the photoshoot, I like the concept. It's eye-opening, interesting and definetely ''feeds'' your curiosity.
This is a very interesting, and informative article, but I feel it is rather "biased". Although the different rooms show culture and the lifestyles of people around the world, most of them are based of personaloty, gender, or career. Especially eith the one that is all pink. But, this is entirely my opinion.
Staged or not it still is interesting to see what others have or don't have in their bedrooms.
couldn't stand the severe fish eye lense. No real scope of space. But a nice snippet into the lives of some strangers.
Would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been sterotypicalized. It's blatantly staged. Very sad it would have been such an interesting series.
I don't see anything wrong with Colombia and Brazil as American too.. Remember separate by country not by continent.
Load More Replies...This is not accurate at all I'm from Egypt and that is not how rooms in Egypt look the room that they showed is for someone who is poor
And as always, India is poor. Whoever you are, please take a more holistic look at things.
They seem to have asked for the people to pull out all their stuff... Some barely had enough to cover the pillow, many didn't have pillows, some had so much that it was overwhelming... but the thing that bugged me was the way he captured the rooms from above and rounded everything off, to make every room claustrophobic-ly small and almost cartoonish. Very weird...
I don't understand how any of these are comparable. If it's trying to convey different cultures throughout the 'millennial' generation (what even is that??) then they should choose a closer age bracket. You can't compare a 17 year olds style to a 30 year olds style in the same country, let alone across different ones.
Not a single room I would feel comfortable in. But they surely are interesting. Most of them. Some. :x
The series is a bit odd. I wonder what the people were told...some rooms look like they supposedely look everyday, others look like they were told to showcase particular hobbies, others like the idea was to depict stereotypes. Ben from Dallas is the perfect example for this. Thus, the series exhibits some interesting views, but getting an idea how people typically sleep around the world is not possible.
A nice thing, though, is that most of these people look rather happy...even if the rooms look what would be considered "poor" from a Western point of view.
Load More Replies...Despite the fact that some rooms seem to ''be prepared'' for the photoshoot, I like the concept. It's eye-opening, interesting and definetely ''feeds'' your curiosity.
This is a very interesting, and informative article, but I feel it is rather "biased". Although the different rooms show culture and the lifestyles of people around the world, most of them are based of personaloty, gender, or career. Especially eith the one that is all pink. But, this is entirely my opinion.
Staged or not it still is interesting to see what others have or don't have in their bedrooms.
couldn't stand the severe fish eye lense. No real scope of space. But a nice snippet into the lives of some strangers.
Would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been sterotypicalized. It's blatantly staged. Very sad it would have been such an interesting series.
I don't see anything wrong with Colombia and Brazil as American too.. Remember separate by country not by continent.
Load More Replies...This is not accurate at all I'm from Egypt and that is not how rooms in Egypt look the room that they showed is for someone who is poor
And as always, India is poor. Whoever you are, please take a more holistic look at things.
They seem to have asked for the people to pull out all their stuff... Some barely had enough to cover the pillow, many didn't have pillows, some had so much that it was overwhelming... but the thing that bugged me was the way he captured the rooms from above and rounded everything off, to make every room claustrophobic-ly small and almost cartoonish. Very weird...
I don't understand how any of these are comparable. If it's trying to convey different cultures throughout the 'millennial' generation (what even is that??) then they should choose a closer age bracket. You can't compare a 17 year olds style to a 30 year olds style in the same country, let alone across different ones.
Not a single room I would feel comfortable in. But they surely are interesting. Most of them. Some. :x