'Much Loved': Lovely Photo Series Of Favourite Stuffed Toys (PICTURES)
PICTURES: Much Loved Toys - And Their Stories
The Huffington Post UK
Award-winning Dublin-based portrait photographer Mark Nixon created one of the internet's loveliest photo series - and now it's been turned into a book.
'Much Loved' is a collection of whimsical, wonderful portraits of teddy bears and other beloved stuffed toys - each with an accompanying biography.
“The well-worn toys show battle scars of being the prized possessions of children and cherished companions that have seen many a repair as different parts start wearing down,” says Nixon - and as this small selection (which includes his own toy panda) shows, he's not wrong:
'Much Loved' Photo Series
Teddy(01 of06)
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AGE: 16 HEIGHT: 8"BELONGS TO: LUKE FOLEY Teddy was put in the crib one hour after Luke was born. He has been lost a few times since then; once on a family holiday in Tunisia, but after a major appeal, he was found ten miles away! Another time, after searching everywhere, we thought we had lost Teddy for good, so we called the Steiff factory in Germany to see if they had a replacement, but as Teddy was a limited edition, they didn’t. Teddy finally showed up sometime later in a chess game box. Even though Luke is sixteen now and won’t admit it, if he comes across Teddy, the first thing he does is pick him up and smell him. (credit:Mark Nixon )
One Eyed Ted / Aloysius (02 of06)
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AGE: 55+ HEIGHT: 13"BELONGS TO: GERRY RYAN /BABETTE RYAN Gerry and his brother Mano both owned this bear as children. Gerry took to carrying him around as an adult after watching 'Brideshead Revisited' and renamed him Aloysius. He often spoke of him on the radio show he hosted for twenty-two years. There is still a trace of lipstick visible that Gerry’s mother, Maureen, applied at one point. Since Gerry’s sudden passing in 2010, One Eyed Ted is being cared for by Gerry’s daughter Babette. (credit:Mark Nixon )
Bobo (03 of06)
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AGE: 34 HEIGHT: 12"BELONGS TO: SHANE MAHER Shane sent Bobo by regular post to be photographed after hearing about the Much Loved project on the radio. Shane was six weeks old when Santa brought Bobo, but now Bobo sleeps with Shane’s nine-year-old daughter. Bobo was accompanied by a letter that expressed the hope that Bobo would be photogenic and asked us to take care of him. We sent him back, registered. (credit:Mark Nixon )
Daddy Bunny (04 of06)
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AGE: 8 HEIGHT: 14" BELONGS TO: ZOE BRACKEN Zoe has three teddies: Mummy Bunny, Daddy Bunny, and Nanny Bunny. They all have to go on holiday and travel in their own suitcase. Zoe has to sleep on the edge of her bed, because the three of them need their space. (credit:Mark Nixon )
Beary (05 of06)
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AGE: 6 HEIGHT: 12"BELONGS TO: TOM O’CONNOR JR. Sinead Keogh wrote: Tom turned six in September. When he was born, he got the teddy as a gift from a friend of mine. Tom calls the teddy Beary, and he goes everywhere with him. I always know when Tom is tired—I hear him running upstairs to get Beary off his bed for a cuddle. (credit:Mark Nixon )
Panda (06 of06)
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AGE: 50 HEIGHT: 16"BELONGS TO: MARK NIXON I think I only ever called him Panda. I remember clearly snuggling up with him in bed as a child, which is probably why watching my son, Calum, with his teddy spurred me on to starting this project. As I grew up and my interests focused elsewhere (girls and music mostly), Panda spent many years on top of the wardrobe in the spare room of my mother’s house. From there, he migrated to a cardboard box in her attic and finally the box came down with the ultimatum, “Take it with you or it’s going in the bin.” So he joined the scores of other soft toys belonging to my children and landed in a trunk in the spare room. I have just pulled Panda out to photograph him for this project and he smells a bit musty, but I have decided to keep him beside my computer in my studio while I work. (credit:Mark Nixon)
The book features 60 such adorable, bittersweet pictures and stories - and we defy you flick through its pages without relating to some of the tales and remembering you own favourite childhood toys.