Research - Peter Greenaway, 26 Bathrooms

Peter Greenaway - 26 Bathrooms


Greenaway's video was made in London & Oxfordshire in 1985 and shows 26 bathrooms and raises some interesting points about the taboos of the bathroom. 


Most of the owners of the bathrooms where very open, many of them showering/bathing in the film. One of the bathrooms owned by a bathroom designer had a porthole window into the main living space which was kept open to let the light into the living room. When guests used the bathroom they closed the flap to give them privacy, however the action of lowering the cover would attract attention to the fact that someone was using the bathroom. 


Another of the bathrooms was in a public bath house. I think that this change of class from the other upper class bathrooms we see in the film and I like the contrast.


I think that I will take influence from this video if for no other reason than the wide variety shown within it. I don't want all of the bathrooms I photograph to look the same, I want to see bathrooms of people of different ages and backgrounds.