Because they’re the place to shed your dirt and get clean (plus, you know, use the toilet), bathrooms are inevitably fairly grim. Think: soap scum around the rim of your bathtub, tangles of hair clogging the drain, mould in the corner of the shower, evidence of where you’ve spat out toothpaste in the sink, a suspicious orange tinge to the plastic rim of your glass shower door. Ew. 

But in the world of performative cleanliness, where there’s still shame attached to being grubby and social media is awash with videos of people’s highly organised cupboards and declarations of how frequently they clean their bed sheets (likely more than we’re doing), it’s rare to see the filth of anyone’s bathroom but your own. This can create a strange sense of personal failure. We ask ourselves: Is it just my toilet that has an unsettling brown limescale stain in the basin? Am I a chaotic mess because I don’t wipe down the sink after every use? 

Here at Stylist, we’re big on shedding the burden of guilt and shame. And while, yes, it is important to have a clean bathroom, we’d like to give everyone a free pass for spaces in their house to not always be absolutely pristine… because that’s just not possible. Bathrooms are going to get a bit gross. Yours is not the only one. 

To hammer that message home, we recommend heading along to a new exhibition in Hackney Downs, which comprises photos peeling back the layers of our bathroom routines to reveal all the icky stuff that goes on behind that particular closed door. Commissioned by personal care brand Life Supplies, photographer Angèle Châtenet has created the series, which will be on display at Spazio Leone in Hackney Downs Studios from 15–20 January. 

You can also have a sneak peek at some of the photos – and take comfort in the knowledge that you’re not the only person whose toothpaste is a rank squished-up tube with crust around the opening – ahead.

The full photo series will be available to view from 15 January to 20 January 2024 at Spazio Leone, Hackney Downs Studios, 17 Amhurst Terrace, Lower Clapton, London E8 2BT. Admission is free and opening times are 10am to 6pm.

Images: Angèle Châtenet