Toy Stories by Gabriele Galimberti began around 2009–2010, examining childhood through staged portraits of children and their favorite possessions made in homes and neighborhoods across the world.
The project uses a universal subject—play—to register differences in living standards and consumer culture. Originating in Tuscany from a chance portrait of a friend’s daughter and expanding alongside a two‑year CouchSurfing travel commission for D La Repubblica, the series positioned childhood objects as readable evidence of class, culture, and parental aspiration. During this initial two‑year phase, Galimberti CouchSurfed across 58 countries; most of the children photographed were relatives or neighbors of the hosts who provided lodging and meals. The first book appeared in 2014, and Galimberti has continued the series since, framing it as an ongoing, comparative study.
Toy Stories interrogates three linked themes: the universality of play; the visibility of socioeconomic disparity; and the reach of mass‑produced commodities. The pictures observe how quantity and type of toys correlate with household means and social context, while also noting behavioral differences—greater possessiveness in affluent settings, more sharing and outdoor play where resources are limited. At the same time, the toys echo family roles and aspirations, translating adult worlds into miniature form.
Visually, the work relies on frontal, broadly framed portraits in color. Children, generally three to six years old, sit or stand centrally while their toys are arrayed around them in carefully ordered, often geometric constellations. Lighting is bright and clarifying—often augmented—so that every object reads crisply; the overall mood is controlled, even slightly hyper‑real, without theatrical excess.
Technically speaking, Galimberti works digitally, favoring wide‑to‑normal focal lengths and portable strobes alongside more powerful heads when needed; scenes may take minutes or hours to build depending on how many objects are present. The consistency of the typological approach advances the comparative intent.
The project is widely considered central to Galimberti’s signature method—portraying people surrounded by their belongings—and has circulated through a 2014 book and exhibitions at Festival Images Vevey, Les Rencontres d'Arles, the V&A Museum, and the Museum of Childhood, London. It is frequently discussed alongside James Mollison’s Where Children Sleep.
