Some Minnesota Public Restrooms, Circa 1985

by Nancy Hanauer

Some Minnesota Public Restrooms, Circa 1985 - by Nancy Hanauer

It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since these photos were taken. It really is true that if you wait long enough, everything either comes into fashion or back into fashion, or at least into fascination.

I read about this website in The Rake, took a look online and was reminded of these photos I did as an Art student at the University of Minnesota. I was in my second photography class when my dad came with an old medium format camera and asked if I’d like to try it out. Of course! It became the only camera I would use for years. In this particular class, there were just 2 assignments: Pick a place and photograph it repeatedly and pick a theme and photograph many different examples. The place I picked was Como Park, rather Art student-y and boring. The theme I picked was public restrooms. This was certainly more intriguing, especially since I wanted to represent both genders. The camera was entirely a manual operation without an internal light meter or flash. I was also obsessed with slow film, which meant I carried the camera attached to a tripod along with a hand-held light meter and a cable release to trip the shutter. Considering the way photography has gone today, this was Old School, even then.

The challenge was not getting busted in a men’s restroom with such a cumbersome outfit. Lucky for me, I had very short hair and could easily pass for a boy. I also had a long suede coat that could hide the equipment if I needed to make a quick, discrete exit. It was never my intention to photograph anybody going about the business one does in a public restroom, and I did bring along a guy friend to keep watch and shout in a warning if I was going to be interrupted. However, you’ll see in the Leamington Hotel picture that I did catch someone in the act. I didn’t even notice until I was looking over the contact sheets. Nice surprise.

A number of these places are gone now: the old Science Museum, the Leamington, Chi Chi’s, Duff’s, and the Cloud Drive In. Some of them have changed. The Harriet women’s restroom has been restored. Felty’s is now some other place, but I hear the men’s restroom is still behind the one-way mirror. The photo that is listed as the Plaza Hotel may not be the Plaza Hotel at all. I don’t remember a Plaza Hotel in Minneapolis. I call it the Plaza because that’s what I had written on the negative sleeve. It doesn’t really matter. This photo, along with many of the rest could have been taken anywhere. They’re all about white porcelain, tile walls, chrome flushers, steel stalls, dirty grout, and seats left up. What more does a public restroom need?

When I’m traveling, I still take an occasional snapshot in a public restroom. I like the way those tile and chrome surfaces look in a photo. I also like the way that restrooms really don’t change in terms of their furnishings. The basics will do. But, these days, what makes them especially worthy of a snapshot is a good bit of graffiti or someone’s personal belonging left behind to make me wonder about the people who’ve been there.

Science Museum Self Portrait, St. Paul, MN Science Museum Self Portrait
St. Paul, MN