Nil Admirandum

Edward Weston probably began the trend when he photographed the sensuous toilet of his house in Mexico: the year was 1925. In the late 60s, Bill Owens made another toilet illustrious. Complete with a flush, it had been converted into a flower holder and occupied a central position in the garden of a suburban house. A woman was watering the flowers and, according to Owen’s caption on the photograph, she said: ‘Before the dissolution of our marriage my husband and I owned a bar. One day a toilet broke and we brought it home.’

The owners of this house in Midwestern Portugal would probably be heartbroken if I told them their idea was not that original.