Toys leave a mark in the childhood of every child. All of us have had a special one, a toy that we specially remember, inherited from a brother, a Christmas wish come true, or even a toy made by yourself, that toy that was undoubtedly your number one because you put so much love into making it. Toys also reveal a lot about the character of a kid - the way they think, what are their dreams, what life they have...
An Italian photographer by the name
Gabriele Galimberti has gone around the world in a set of photographs, exploring this phenomenon. With the help and consent of parents, he discovered through children games how they develop the game and which is their favourite toy. In a sense, this is a scientific exposition, where kids show with pride their treasures that tell us some more of their lives.
Bethsaida is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She lives in a camp, built by a charity organisation, because her home was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. Her favourite toy is a doll which she was given from a humanitarian aid worker. She likes combing her hair and making various haircuts.
Abel is from Mexico. He is one of 5 kids in the family. He spends most of the day playing in the street. He likes his little cars the most - he runs around with them all day long, but sometimes he agrees to play with his little sister too.
Davide lives in a small settlement just outside La Valetta in Malta. He and each of his brothers has a room of their own. He loves all his toys, but the black sporty car is his favourite. It always wins the car races that he and his pals arrange in the backyard.
Enea is from Tuscany, Italy. His dad is Italian and his mom is American. He dreams of becoming a rock musician, just like his uncle. So he created a band, which includes him and his sister. He likes playing the Batman and Spiderman theme songs the most.
This little princess is Jaqueline from Manila, the Philippines. She is like the green fairy from the Peter Pan story. The doll on the wall (the one with the wings) bears this name: Fairy. It was a gift from her best friend. "When I grow up I will be a supermodel". Does she know what it's like to be a model? Well sure, her dad is a photographer.
Even the t-shirt shows that Lucas from Sydney, Australia, likes trains more than anything. He likes the railways, the wooden carriages that smell so nice. And the best part is when his dad agrees to play with him. They would often spend hours and hours, building new railways and running Lucas' trains on them.
Kalesi is from Fiji. The one thing she likes most is to cook for her dolls, so she has all sorts of cooking tools. She also loves school - when her elder brother puts the school bag on his back and goes out, she takes her little bag with a Transformers pencil in it, and carries it to her kindergarten, where her small table serves as a school desk. She can't wait to start school!
Dinosaurs are the favourite toys for Orly from Texas. At night, while he sleeps, they protect him from ghosts and from "the Mexicans who want to kidnap me". Mexico is a dangerous place, he was told by his mom who was born there. And if it depends on her, he would never see the other side of the border.
Just a few weeks ago, Cun Zi Yi had a birthday, and she received lots of presents. So she is having difficulties telling which toy is her favourite one right now. Her parents say she likes drawing, and one day she will become a famous painter.
Botlhe is from Maun, Botswana, at the bottom end of the Okavango delta (a dry place next to a very humid place, I know from experience). Her only toy is this funny monkey, and they are inseparable. She takes it even when she is playing with her friends in the dusty streets. They all live in a "complex", a village of 50 families living in small houses. Five or six households use a common bathroom there.
Watcharapon is crazy about bikes. Bikes of all sorts! He knows from his father that a good motorcyclist should always wear a helmet. Every day, his dad puts a helmet when he goes to work on his motoroller. The little one emulates the example and runs around home with the helmet on his head.
Don't be scared, Pavel is of the good guys! One day he will surely become a policeman, so he is training from early on with his younger brother. Today he is chasing car stealers and handcuff them and then interrogate them. Pavel likes his guns, but his favourite thing is the bobby helmet that a friend of his mom's once brought him from London.
Farida's favourite doll is called Peter. Her dad brought the white teddy bear from Canada, where he works for a foreign oil company, and he returns to Cairo just once in a few months, for about a week. He always brings new presents to his daughter - most often, plush beasts.
Alessia loves animals very much. They are her favourite pals in the games. The girl was born in the countryside, and her parents have one of the biggest farms in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Alessia gladly helps her grandpa in his daily work. She already knows how to load the fodder on a wheelbarrow and drive it to her lovely cows.
Ragnar has a lot of toys, but most of all he likes his monkey mask. His room is very small, 2 x 1.5 m, but he spends a lot of time in it. It is too cold to play outdoors for most of the year in Reykjavík.
Julia lives with her parents in a small flat in the centre of Tirana, Albania. Her dad works at a gas station. The big guitar on the wall was a present from him - he would love his daughter to learn to play some musical instrument. For now though, Julia prefers to play with dolls, and her favourite one is Barbie.
...And there are tons of other stories behind every photo!
What about your kids? What toys do they like playing with? =)
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talkpolitics
(no subject)
Date: 27/7/12 16:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 27/7/12 17:41 (UTC)A painter in the making?
(no subject)
Date: 27/7/12 18:43 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 27/7/12 17:15 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 27/7/12 18:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 27/7/12 20:18 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 27/7/12 23:07 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 28/7/12 00:51 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 28/7/12 05:46 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 28/7/12 06:00 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 28/7/12 06:15 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 28/7/12 23:09 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 29/7/12 17:31 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 30/7/12 23:55 (UTC)In '72, that was the most watched TV program on ABC (in the US, anyway)
Twas a hell of a time....
(no subject)
Date: 31/7/12 07:40 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 30/7/12 08:25 (UTC)Couldn't resist, nerdlinger (although I approve, being a nerd myself).
(no subject)
Date: 30/7/12 23:54 (UTC)but now and again someone will be all "i play chess" and i'm like "really? do ya now? OK...... e4" and if they have a response, we'll play a little mental chess till they collapse cause they cant keep it straight in their heads, or i get impressed and want to spend more time with them.
when OWS was happening, i was thinking i should find an activist friend who is as good at chess as i am, and if we ever get arrested (for, ya know, sitting on the sidewalk or some shit) we could at least keep each other entertained with mental chess as we writhed in the back of the squad car
(no subject)
Date: 29/7/12 11:02 (UTC)Amazing pics are amazing.