Above: "Lost Face," 2004, Character by Andrew Bell
What was the first toy you ever really loved? A stuffed Snoopy. Still got him, complete with a bunch of his outfits. The pilot one rules all. What do you do when you're feeling uninspired? Music is a really, really big thing for me. And not to be all brainy and shit, but I'm a closet fan of a number of poets. There's a great Orson Welles quote that I like a lot: "A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet." There is a lot of debate over how long the limited-edition toy market can continue, given how expensive toys are getting and their limited use (outside of collecting). Do you feel the market is getting saturated? Well, you have to remember that you're talking to a guy that's been photographing toys for over 15 years. As far as I'm concerned, toys are an artistic genre that is only starting to peek its head above ground. Because this is so new, or at least the emergence is, there will be periods of readjustment where the medium will be forced to refocus and redefine itself. The trends that are happening now in the marketplace may come and go, but artists will continue expressing their vision through toys regardless.
What sorts of things do you think will help keep the toy business alive? If we're just talking about the collector market, manufacturers and artists could do well looking at comics and baseball cards. Both tanked for a while after trying to artificially force the collectability. There is some of that already happening in the toy scene with people going a little crazy with colorways and overproduction of platform toys. I gotta say that Rockstar did it right with the GTA figures. It's pretty ballsy for them to go with super-small runs and no paint variations. They're not trying to turn a quick buck or capitalize on some fad. They are supporting the growth of the genre. Frankly, it's going to take more of that sort of thinking to really keep this alive. The Rockstar Games’ of the world have the potential to be the Medicis of the toy renaissance. Artists such as myself will always continue to explore the medium, but it needs benefactors to be seen. What is your advice for young photographers? Shoot whatever the hell you want and just keep doing it. Eventually you'll find an audience.
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