ultimate in ethnographic research

photographer Uwe Ommer traveled the globe through 150 countries over the course of 4 years, to document the life and times of every type of family he could find. He called his project the "Family Album of Planet Earth," and the book that resulted was called (simply enough) 1000 Families. He shot all the families identically, without posture or pretense, against white backgrounds.

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/photography/all/facts/02953.htm