Retail Observer

February 2016

The Retail Observer is an industry leading magazine for INDEPENDENT RETAILERS in Major Appliances, Consumer Electronics and Home Furnishings

Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/633312

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 13 of 67

RETAILOBSERVER.COM FEBRUARY 2016 14 T he 1960's Hollywood Production Code allowed movies to contain graphic violence, yet they did not allow filming of a toilet being flushed. What better evidence of our culture's high degree of discomfort about the room where we spend more than a year of our lives. (Another symbol of discomfort: the vast number of euphemisms our language has for the bathroom.) Bathrooms may be awkward to talk about, but they clearly make an impression on us. Who can't recall some of the best (and worst) bathrooms they've visited? In FLUSH: Celebrating Bathrooms Past & Present, photographer Steve Gottlieb opens the bathroom door and lets in some fresh air. He explores bathrooms in their many guises, from grungy to gilded, minute to massive, outhouses to airplanes. The excellent images are combined with fascinating information on such subjects as the history of outhouses and toilet paper and the evolution of public restrooms and toilet technology. In a world where virtually everything seems to have been done before, what would explain why FLUSH is the first book of its kind? Perhaps other photographers were held back by the cultural stigma around the subject. Or perhaps the subject didn't seem interesting or varied enough—a notion that Gottlieb thoroughly disproves. You can display FLUSH with pride on your own coffee table or toilet tank…or make it a gift that's sure to make an impression. Gottlieb's four previous books have received wide acclaim; FLUSH is an altogether original and engaging addition to his collection. Undoubtedly, he is the only professional photo- grapher in the world who can proudly say that his career is in the toilet. RO B O O K R E V I E W FLUSH: CELEBRATING BATHROOMS PAST & PRESENT Author: Steve Gottlieb, Photographer steve@gottliebphoto.com 603.305.8282 Publisher: Privy Publishing

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Retail Observer - February 2016