Toilet
“You’re taking a picture of….the bathroom?” the woman asked me. (She was, obviously, unfamiliar with my work.)
So, of course I took a picture of the bathroom. And not just THIS bathroom either – I took several photos of the restroom at the airport on Taveuni.
(Now that I re-read this, it strikes me that maybe there is something a little odd about taking pictures of bathrooms. Perhaps I’ve said too much.)
Bouma National Heritage Park
Taveuni Island, Fiji
photographed 7.6.2013
Posted on July 17, 2013, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, architecture, black and white photography, Bouma National Heritage Park, melinda green harvey, one day one image, photo a day, photography, taveuni island, taveuni island fiji. Bookmark the permalink. 35 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
I enjoy your writing almost as much as I enjoy your photographs! Both well done. And… of course, a photo of a toilet. 🙂
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Thanks, Donna. I have almost as much fun writing the blog posts as I do taking the pictures.
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I do want to add that it’s not too odd as long as the facility is unoccupied.
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That’s an excellent point!
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What is it that sailors say? “Any port in a storm”! It is a lovely toilet, though.
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I’ve seen worse….!
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On my first trip to Europe I collected toilet paper samples to show the many varieties I “experienced.”
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…and all I brought back were photos of bathrooms!
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Well I’ve taken pictures in Gents ‘Bathrooms’ too. When they are unoccupied I hasten to add – the embarrassment happens when you have just taken a picture and someone walks through the door. I get some very strange looks. Seriously – there are some fascinating architectural images of Bathrooms out there just waiting to be captured. Well done, Melinda, for raising their profile!
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I was on a trip to the Cotswolds and saw a sign in the ladies room that said it was a finalist for the Loo of the Year. I took a picture of the sign, which you probably already surmised.
Over on the One Day | One Image Facebook page, one commenter said, “I have a whole collection of urinals.” Do you think he meant photographs of urinals, or ACTUAL urinals?
Anyway, I am happy to know that there are a few other folks out there who find bathrooms to be photographically interesting…
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Sure glad I’m not the only one who does this!! 🙂
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I’ve been surprised at how many other photographers have admitted photographing restrooms. Maybe we need to start a site similar to this one – http://legionofdoorwhores.wordpress.com/ – only for restrooms instead of doors!
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I think you need a legionofloogurus.com weblog, for sure. I sometimes take those shots too, but I don’t have a discrete little camera and it is inhibiting to take photos with a DSLR in a public washroom, to even carry one into a washroom.
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Nice title for the blog; did you already take it for your own use?
I know what you mean: people tend to get a little frightened when you enter a restroom toting a big camera! I suppose the proper thing would be to reassure them by saying, “It’s OK. I am with the Legion of Loo Gurus.”
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A Loo Guru shoulder patch might help, I suppose.
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Yes! A shoulder patch! My friend Pat is a graphic designer (she’s also the best cusser I ever met, but that’s neither here nor there) so maybe I will ask her to lend her skills to the project.
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If I had the energy, I would start said blog, stealing the DoorWhores idea shamelessly. It would probably be quite successful as so many people do take shots of toilets and urinals – they (we) should be honoured for their quirkiness.
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Maybe we ought to just contact those Door Whore guys and offer the idea to them? Because we are just very nice that way.
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Not sure about that. I can’t get into their system to post any door shots, and while I can live with that, would I want to be closed out from posting shots of the loo/bog/toilet/WC/bathroom/sh**er/can/crapper/commode/latrine/privy/lav/restroom room/little girls room/throne/potty/john/head/comfort station.
Just to establish my credentials here, I once, in a previous (officeless) existence, excavated the garderobe (see above list for synonyms) of Henry VIII. I took pictures of that too, but they all reside in a museum collection.
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So, you ARE the Loo Guru. All this time, and I didn’t even suspect…!
You have to join the Door Whores before you can post on their site – http://legionofdoorwhores.wordpress.com/members/
Their vetting process is not too vigorous: I got in right away
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I have tried about 4 times- something in my account prevents it. I need to bug WP about what it is I should change. Adrian Pym doesn’t seem to know, other than that my blog rejects his efforts.
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Well, then – maybe the Door Whores are jealous that you are the Loo Guru?
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Maybe. Perhaps we could collaborate – loo doors could be reblogged in both directions
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Collaboration’s good. In fact, I spent a good part of my workday today writing about collaboration*, so if you need some good collaboration-related jargon, I would be happy to help out.
*Believe it or not, however, I did not write anything about loos, doors, whores, or gurus. In that respect, it was a boring day.
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Well, just so you know, I also won an award, in the form of a bronze statue for exemplary collaboration. Sadly, since it was a collaboration award, I had to share it. It too resides in a museum (they were a collaboration partner and took it upon themselves to store the award). I seem to have the necessary credentials for this proposed blog. And you being a grant writer, I think we could make a good project out of this. Maybe someone could be talked into giving us money.
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Let’s talk about grant opportunities (“strategize”, if you will) on the trip to Fiji.
Nice of the museum to step up that way, and store the award.
(I, too, have won an Important Award that I don’t actually have. Mine was in my role as publisher of a book of poetry that won a Western Heritage Award from the Cowboy Hall of Fame. The award ended up with the president of our little publishing company. Ah, well….)
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I tried to suggest that the award could spend time at all three winner’s offices. In a spirit of collaboration, they did not listen. Or maybe they just forget to sent it along after 4 months or so.
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I am sure they MEANT to send it – in the spirit of collaboration and all – but there probably wasn’t any money in the budget for boxes or packing materials or tape or shipping fees. I am pretty sure they’d be happy for you to come pick it up. How long have they had it? Because you’d get to keep it that same amount of time, before handing it over to the third collaborator, wouldn’t you?
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10 years now. The museum is just down the street from my work. I could go pick it up.
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Yes. Just stop by. It’s possible they’ve been waiting for you, and the award will be at the front desk, with a Post It note with your name on it. You probably don’t even need to call first.
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This is what it looks like. http://bit.ly/1aJL8Kx
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That’s nice – it sure will look good in your office (your new one, I mean, after you relocate).
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Resistant to falling coconuts too
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Certainly. That’s in the design specifications for all major awards.
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