Maria Ionova-Gribina

Only a Game?

Nearly every small boy has at least one toy pistol, gun or wooden sword. The prototypes of some playthings can be found in films or comic books, others are similar to real weapons, but almost all forms of present-day weaponry have toy equivalents. Some parents try to shield their children from toy weapons, motivated by the idea that there is no need to encourage aggression in children. Others, on the contrary, favour war games, saying that boys should be raised as ‘real men’, that they should feel powerful in order to defend their kinsfolk, their family and country.

I found the subjects of these photographs on the Internet, inviting children to pose with their favourite toy weapons. When preparing for the portraits I gave them total freedom on which toy they selected and what pose they assumed. Did these images turn out aggressive and bellicose? Or do we find them endearing, since for us this is only a game?