The first and few things I’ve ever stolen in my life was a crayon. I was two or three and my mom found it in my pants pocket one day after daycare. When she asked me about it, I said it was so fun and amazing I really wanted to draw all the time. She felt so bad she bought me a box the next day after telling me to never steal again. We returned the crayon back to the daycare.

I’m not the most expressive person. Raised by people who thought showing emotion was a weakness, I was a quiet and reserved child.

But shit always has a way of surfacing, doesn’t it? No matter how hard you try to repress it, it always leaks out, spills over like too much jelly.

Drawing. Writing. Fashion. Sculpting.

I was quiet but I was always screaming.

And I think I was always going to end up here one way or another. Some mutation or blip in my personality would predispose me to this hobby. I wouldn’t call myself a photographer or anything, but I like it. There’s something magical about pressing a button and a whole new world is perfectly paused and encapsulated.

Toys and Instagram really blew up that novelty of photography for me.

In this newly founded cult of social media, the image, the dream, the mirage is the only thing that matters. And the frame only keeps getting smaller and smaller. Further and further from reality. From blogs, our obsession moved on to micro blogging like Tumblr, then to Twitter, and now Instagram as we sharpened our images into fine points meant only to pierce the heart.

I love it. It’s like skimming cream off milk.

And I think toy photography naturally thrives in that capsule world. There’s so much weight in those little PVC hunks of plastic veiled in childhood heroes and nostalgia. Showing too much would only break the spell. And there’s nothing funner than dealing in the fantasy that toys already lend themselves to. Tools turning dreams into reality if only for a moment.

Thank you very much for this opportunity to ponder such a difficult question. I’m 100% certain if Shelly never stumbled upon me on Instagram I would have never gone outside but then maybe my dioramas would be done better lol. Much love to you guys.

Eva