Children Toys Brought To Life Through These Photos: Incredible Photography Display Toys Having Fun in The Real World

By Mark McConville

 

A SERIES of stunning action shots has captured the world’s most iconic toys like you’ve never seen them before, as they interact with the real world.

 

Mimicking a scene from the Rocky movies a tiny figurine of the boxer pounds into some hanging hot dogs, Darth Vader pushes a Stormtrooper on a swing and Woody slides down a banister as Buzz Lightyear looks on.

 

Other incredible images show Kermit the frog using an outhouse, The Lion King’s Simba being offered up a sacrifice and Antman trying to escape from a bowl of Cheerios.

 

The amusing photographs were taken by professional toy photographer Mitchel Wu, from Los Angeles, USA.

 

“You see a compelling story told in a single image, and motion and emotion where none exists,” he said.

 

“I love portraying characters in unexpected ways that challenge one’s preconceptions of what they believe that character to be.

 

“Expect the unexpected – from life and from people. I really just want to express myself creatively using characters many of us grew up with and enjoy, and maybe present them in some surprising new ways.

 

“Darth Vader pushing a giddy stormtrooper on a swing? Rafiki offering up forlorn baby Simba to a hungry, drooling rancor as a snack?  These kinds of images playfully challenge one’s preconceptions of those characters and can elicit unexpected emotions and reactions from viewers.”

 

Mitchel runs his own company, Mitchel Wu Toy Photography, and has previously worked as a successful wedding and portrait photographer as well as a six-year stint at Walt Disney Company.

 

He explained why he made the jump to toy photography and how he manages to produce these surreal images.

 

“I love the potential to tell amazing stories and create really fun images, images that surprise and evoke an emotional response from viewers,” he said.

 

“Honestly, your only limit is your imagination.  I have a degree in illustration and the parallels between it and toy photography is pretty astounding.  In fact, my toy photography career feels exactly like the illustration career I always thought I’d have.

 

“Every shoot is different, and every shoot involves a degree of problem solving.  Sometimes a little, sometimes a whole heck of a lot.

 

“That’s part of what makes toy photography so interesting. Sometimes challenges are environmental – like shooting outdoors in a heavy wind that keeps knocking down figures.

“Other times they are purely technical challenges, like how to support seven lit matches in the air as if Woody and Jessie are juggling them (keeping in mind that those seven matches were photographed on fire and smoking real time in the scene).  It’s those kinds of problems, and everything in between.”

 

For more information see www.mitchelwutoyphotography.com