A toy is rarely content to remain an object. Give it a name, a voice or a place at the table and it enters society immediately.
The Robert Harper archive contains 953 unique toy photographs across 2,738 frames, arranged through eleven inventory folders. Dolls, Barbie, Action Man, model cars, games, chess sets, cards, jigsaws, puppets, boats, planes, soft animals, wooden toys, Lego and toy boxes populate an affectionate and visually varied collection.
Design at play
Harper's still-life eye was ideally suited to toys. Colour, miniature scale and graphic shape give them natural presence, while signs of handling reveal the lives they have led.
Some subjects are carefully arranged as products. Others seem ready to escape the composition. Puppets carry performance within their construction. Dolls arrive with fashion and social expectations. Model cars and planes reduce adult engineering to something that can be held in a child's hand.
The inventory includes branded and culturally recognisable subjects such as Barbie, Action Man, Lego, Tintin chess and Alice in Wonderland. The named products are photographic subjects; their inclusion does not imply endorsement.
A history of childhood
Toys record changing ideas about play, gender, education and family life. Board games gather people around a table. Soft toys provide companionship. Wooden puzzles promise learning through touch. Electronic entertainment begins to alter the landscape represented elsewhere in the archive.
Harper's work for magazines, retailers and consumer brands gave him an understanding of how objects could appeal to both children and the adults choosing for them. The resulting photographs are polished, but they retain humour and warmth.