Paperback by Penguin, £20
One night after a few glasses of wine, Paula Zuccotti told her friend about an idea she had. She wanted to take a collection of people and photograph every object that they touched during the day. Her friend was so excited by the idea that she agreed to be the first case study.
Paula Zuccotti is, among other things, an ethnographer. As someone who studies people and cultures, she set out to see what our objects reveal about us – our lives, our loves, our fears and our hopes. Having travelled the world taking photographs of people’s daily objects and interviewing her subjects, Zucotti compiled her research into this one beautiful book.
It makes for a fascinating and fun read – before turning the page to reveal the owner of the objects you find yourself scouring their possessions for clues – are they a man or a woman? How old are they? What is their job?
One downfall of the book is that an overwhelming majority of the subjects are designers, artists, chefs – people you can imagine Zuccotti comes into contact with on a daily basis.
It would have been much more interesting to have a mix of professions – an accountant, a teacher, a hairdresser. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful and interesting book that would make a lovely Christmas present.
