Show Navigation
Material World: A Global Family Portrait All Galleries

Material World: Bhutan

63 images Created 15 Jan 2013

Loading ()...

  • Nalim and Namgay's family of Bhutan, with all of their possessions. From pages 72-73, Material World. The family of subsistence farmers lives in a 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. They are paying for the mill as they can (often the payment is made in grain and mustard oil). Namgay is also a reader of sacred texts and conducts house cleansing and healing ceremonies for their 14-house village.
    Bhu_mw_01_xxs.jpg
  • Nalim and Namgay family portrait outside their home in Shingkhey, Bhutan. The family of subsistence farmers lives in a 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. They are paying for the mill as they can (often the payment is made in grain and mustard oil). Namgay is also a reader of sacred texts and conducts house cleansing and healing ceremonies for their 14-house village. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project that showed 30 statistically average families in 30 countries with all their possessions.
    Bhu_mw_152_xs.jpg
  • Sangay Khandu uses bulls to plow the family's fields, readying them for rice planting which the women in the family will do. He moves gingerly around the notoriously bad-tempered beasts. The Namgay household farms land that they own and rented land as well to feed their large family. The land is scattered in terraced strips through the hillsides near their home, each plot devoted to one crop: wheat, rice, chilies, or potatoes. Shingkhey, Bhutan. Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, pages 74-75. The family of subsistence farmers lives in a 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan.
    Bhu_mw_02_xxs.jpg
  • Villagers farm terraced land on the hillsides near their homes, growing wheat, rice, chilies, and potatoes, depending on the season. The wheat harvest, now ending, is assigned to the women. But the men do other jobs. A neighbor gathers the chaff to burn it while Nalim and Namgay's son-in-law Sangay Khandu plows the fields below with bulls. Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World: A Global Family Portrait.
    Bhu_mw_729_xs.jpg
  • Sangay sits in the terraced rice and wheat fields near her village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. She and her mother Nalim take turns caring for the younger children at home and working on planting and harvesting their crops. The family farms both land that they own and land that they rent. It is scattered in terraced strips through the hillsides near their home, each plot devoted to one crop: wheat, rice, chilies, or potatoes. Shingkhey, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project that showed 30 statistically average families in 30 countries with all their possessions.
    Bhu_mw_724_xs.jpg
  • Namgay and Nalim's family in Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. Nalim picks beans as her grandchild looks on. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project that showed 30 statistically average families in 30 countries with all their possessions.
    Bhu_mw_703_xs.jpg
  • The wheat harvest in the small village of Shingkhey, Bhutan, now in full swing, is assigned to the women. They take two long, dowel-like sticks, pinch a fistful of wheat heads between them, and then pull up, snapping off the heads. For long-term storage, they cut the stalks down, bind them into sheaves, and store them in the attic. It is threshed little by little, as the family needs it. Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, page 75.
    Bhu_mw_04_xxs.jpg
  • Women harvest wheat in terraced strips through the hillsides near their home in the village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Each strip is devoted to a different crop, and dependent on the season: wheat, rice, chilies, or potatoes. The wheat harvest, now in full swing, is assigned to the women. They take two long, dowel-like sticks, pinch a fistful of wheat heads between them, and then pull up, snapping off the heads. For long-term storage, they cut the whole stalk, bind it into sheaves, and store the result in the attic, from where it is threshed little by little, as the family needs it. The family of subsistence farmers lives in a 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project that showed 30 statistically average families in 30 countries with all their possessions.
    Bhu_mw_726_xs.jpg
  • Wheat on the third floor storage area of Namgay and Nalim's house, Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. The family of subsistence farmers lives in a 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Nalim and her daughter Sangay work as partners; they take turns caring for the children and working in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project that showed 30 statistically average families in 30 countries with all their possessions.
    Bhu_mw_727_xs.jpg
  • Wheat and dried chili peppers on the third floor storage area of Namgay and Nalim's house, Shingkhey, Bhutan. The Namgay household owns and rents land scattered in terraced strips through the hillsides near their home, each strip being devoted to one crop: wheat, rice, chilies, or potatoes.  Nalim and her daughter Sangay care for the children and work in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_728_xs.jpg
  • Sangay cooks at the wood-burning hearth and earthen stove in the kitchen of the rammed earth home she and her husband and children share with Sangay's parents, and brothers and sisters. Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. Nalim and her daughter Sangay care for the children and work in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_713_xs.jpg
  • Butter churning, cooking, and child care in Namgay and Nalim's home in Shingkhey, Bhutan. Nalim and her daughter Sangay care for the children and work in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_714_xs.jpg
  • Nalim holds her two-year-old daughter Zekom in a traditional hand-fashioned back sling as she works at the butter churn.  Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, page 77. Nalim and her daughter Sangay care for the children and work in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_08_xxs.jpg
  • One of Sangay's morning duties is milking the cows. Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, page 75. Sangay and her children and husband live in her parent's house; a traditional 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Sangay and her mother Nalim care for the children and work in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government.
    Bhu_mw_03_xxs.jpg
  • Especially fond of the children, Uncle Kinley Dorji (seated at right) has given up marriage to help with childcare in his sister Nalim's house. A typical task: feeding a weekend breakfast of sweet, thick rice soup to Tandin Geltshin, one of the two-year-olds. His namesake and nephew, Kinley (standing at left) observes the jumble of children from the lofty distance of his 17 years. A student at a boarding school an hour's walk away, he is home only for weekends. Namgay and Nalim's family lives in Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, pages76-77.
    Bhu_mw_07_xxs.jpg
  • Sangay, her children, and young sister Zekom (second from right) eat a snack of toasted grain. Shingkhey, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_701_xs.jpg
  • Typical meal in Bhutan: red rice, chilies with potatoes, eggs, cheese. The Namgay household owns and rents land scattered in terraced strips through the hillsides near their home, each strip being devoted to one crop: wheat, rice, chilies, or potatoes. Shingkhey, Bhutan. Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, Meals of the World page 177. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_16_xxs.jpg
  • Sangay chews betel nut and lime wrapped in a leaf, which, from long-term use, has discolored her teeth and gums. Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. Nalim and her daughter Sangay care for the children and work in their mustard, rice, and wheat fields. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_717_xs.jpg
  • Namgay and Nalim's family in Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. (Some of their children, from left to right): Their grandson Chato Geltshin, and daughter Bangam (holding her younger sister Zekom). From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_734_xs.jpg
  • Nalim and Namgay's grandson looks out from a window in the traditional 3-story rammed earth house he shares with his large extended family. Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_715_xs.jpg
  • Family matriarch Nalim with her youngest daughter Zekom. Nalim's teeth are damaged by the use of betel nut (a mildly narcotic tree fruit). Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_742_120_xs.jpg
  • Namgay with his holy texts in the prayer room of his rammed earth house, Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. Namgay, who has a hunched back and a clubfoot, grinds grain for neighbors with a small mill his family purchased from the government.  Namgay is also a reader of sacred texts and conducts house cleansing and healing ceremonies for their 14-house village. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_746_120_xs.jpg
  • A visiting monk reads Buddhist scripts during a house blessing of Namgay and Nalim's house. Shingkhey, Bhutan. The family of subsistence farmers lives in a 3-story rammed-earth house in the hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_710_xs.jpg
  • Three-year-old Chato Geltshin holds a branch full of berries brought by Uncle Kinley Dorji after a firewood-cutting expedition outside their hillside village of Shingkhey, Bhutan. Published in Material World: A Global Family Portrait, page 76.
    Bhu_mw_05_xxs.jpg
  • Chato Namgay, 7 years old, is Nalim and Namgay's grandson and the second son of Sangay and Sangay Kandu. Shingkhey Village, Bhutan. From Peter Menzel's Material World Project.
    Bhu_mw_718_xs.jpg
Next
View: 25 | All

Peter Menzel Photography

  • Home
  • Legal & Copyright
  • About Us
  • Image Archive
  • Search the Archive
  • Exhibit List
  • Lecture List
  • Agencies
  • Contact Us: Licensing & Inquiries