Noticeboard corner

Bubbles

Games

£$


£$


I took 146 photos before I was satisfied. The objects took over an hour to gather together and set up.

I knew what I wanted from this and had been meaning to do it for a while, I just knew it would be hard work and time consuming so I kept putting it off. It was difficult and some parts of it were boring, but I did enjoy it overall. I am please with the results, seeing as I had two desk lamps and a just-above-entry-level digital camera.

These photos are inspired by - but not copied from - I Spy Mystery: A book of picture riddles by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo which is a children's book but the photographs have a sumptious enigma about them which always intrigues me.

I chose this lighting to enhance the mysterious feel and to make the colour and shadows more interesting. Had this been shot in ordinary light, the toys would have just looked like a temporarily abandoned play spot. Playing is lively and involves movement. With this lighting, I hoped to remove any elements of life (which would be why they call it still life, I suppose!) and liveliness and making it look static and ever so slightly odd (that's not to say sinister - it's not supposed to be that at all).

I didn't want my photos to make a statement or tell a story, I simply wanted them to hold the same sort of enigmatic attraction as the ones by Walter Wick. I wanted them to raise questions and leave the viewer wanting to know more. Have these toys been abandoned? Where are they? Why are they here? Whose are they? What other toys lurk in the shadows? Where is the light coming from - is there someone else in the room? These questions aren't meant to be answered - there are no answers. The toys are simply there.

To begin with, the toys look old-fashioned and at first appear to show toys from the thirties to fifties, but on closer inspection the Rubik's cube and Viewmaster are all too evident.

Even choosing a title for these photos was difficult. I didn't want to suggest anything to the viewer that the photo didn't already suggest. I thought of 'Scattered Childhood' but this would have been too negative. 'Darkened Nursery' suggested a location. 'Toy Box' would almost have done, but would have been a bit too boring and again it suggests a location. 'Play' or 'Playthings' puts action back into the equation. I almost settled with 'Memories' or 'Memory Box', but didn't want to imply that they toys were no longer used. In the end I had to settle for the title 'Toys' but I'm still not quite sure about it... Update: I have now changed it to 'Games'. If you prefer the previous title, please tell me!

Anyway, what I'm banging on about and trying to explain is that I tried to create and capture a sumptious picture of nostalgia, fun, intrigue, mystery, fascination and...puzzlement. I'd like to believe I succeeded and I'm very interested in hearing what you think.


The set-up:

Teddy bear

(Post backdated due to absence)