Reminded me of the post about children's bedrooms around the world. Very similar.
- Shot over a period of 18 months, Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s project Toy Stories compiles photos of children from around the world with their prized possesions—their toys. Galimberti explores the universality of being a kid amidst the diversity of the countless corners of the world; saying, “at their age, they are pretty all much the same; they just want to play.”
But it’s how they play that seemed to differ from country to country. Galimberti found that children in richer countries were more possessive with their toys and that it took time before they allowed him to play with them (which is what he would do pre-shoot before arranging the toys), whereas in poorer countries he found it much easier to quickly interact, even if there were just two or three toys between them.
There were similarites too, especially in the functional and protective powers the toys represented for their proud owners. Across borders, the toys were reflective of the world each child was born into—economic status and daily life affecting the types of toys children found interest in. Toy Stories doesn’t just appeal in its cheerful demeanor, but it really becomes quite the anthropological study.
Here's a thought - how about "photos of hubskiers from around the world with their most prized possession/s"? Has something similar been done before? If not, I could put it up in the afternoon tomorrow, I've just gotta take a picture of myself with my bike first.
That kid from Thailand looks tough. I felt a little sad at the Ukrainian kid though, with all the guns. The kid from Texas is me a couple of decades ago. I had a fantastic collection of dinosaurs. I would stage huge football or soccer games in my room. The dinosaurs vs my action figues. The dinosaurs always won, usually my big T-Rex would score the winning goal.
Galimberti found that children in richer countries were more possessive with their toys and that it took time before they allowed him to play with them (which is what he would do pre-shoot before arranging the toys), whereas in poorer countries he found it much easier to quickly interact, even if there were just two or three toys between them.