Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti is always traveling the world in search of adventure, good stories, and interesting people. In his project, titled “Toy Stories,” Galimberti photographed children from all over the world with their most prized possession. He didn’t expect to find much besides what he already knew. “At this age, everyone always likes the same thing,” is his conclusion after 18 months of work on the project. “They just want to play.”
But the wonderful thing is to see how it is played differently from country to country. Galimberti found that children in wealthier countries are more possessive of their toys. He says that at first, on first contact, they wouldn’t even let them touch his toys:
“I needed more time before they let me play with them,” says the Italian photographer. “In poorer countries, it was much easier. Even though they only had two or three toys, they didn’t really mind sharing them. In Africa, children love to play outside with their friends, their friendship has much more value than the toy.”
However, there are many similarities in how children view their toys, especially when it comes to their function. Galimberti met with a six-year-old boy living in Texas and a four-year-old girl from Malawi, both of whom kept their plastic dinosaurs to protect them from the dangers that awaited them at night. More common was the way the toys reflect each child’s world: a girl from a well-to-do family in Mumbai loves to play Monopoly, because she likes the idea of building houses and hotels, while a boy from a rural area of Mexico loves trucks because he often sees them drive through his village to the next sugar plantation every day. A boy in Latvia plays with miniature cars, as his mother was a taxi driver, while the daughter of an Italian peasant has a variety of plastic rakes, hoes and shovels.
Working for Toy Stories, Galimberti says he’s also learned a lot about how parents raise their children. Parents in the Middle East and Asia accompanied their children to be photographed, even if they were nervous or skittish at first, while parents in South America behaved in a relaxed manner, telling him he could do whatever he wanted, as long as they didn’t harm the child.
Stella – Montecchio, Italy
Ralf – Riga, Latvia
Botlhe – Maun, Botswana
Orly – Brownsville, Texas
###Noel – Dallas, Texas
Maudy – Kalulushi, Zambia
Li Yi Chen – Shenyang, China
Chiwa – Mchinji, Malawi
Davide – La Valletta, Malta
Zi Yi Cun – Chongqing, China
Arafa and Aisha – Bububu, Zanzibar
Jaqueline – Manila, Philippines
Tyra – Stockholm, Sweden
Tangawizi – Keekorok, Kenya
Talia – Timimoun, Algeria
Shaira – Mumbai, India
Pavel – Kiev, Ukraine
Naya – Managua, Nicaragua
Niko – Homer, Alaska
Kalesi – Viseisei, Fiji
Lucas – Sydney, Australia
Enea – Boulder, Colorado
Allenah – El Nido, Philippines
Alessia – Cortona, Italy
Ragnar – Reykjavik, Iceland
Abel – Nopaltepec, Mexico
Photo credit: Galimberti
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