toys
The Playing Fields
Play is precious to children. It is a time
for growing and learning or just having fun.The toys children play with
tell us much about their lives. Many poorer children can’t take
them for granted. They may have to work, or fight a war, or they are refugees
on the run.Yet even in the worst situations you find children making do
with wonderfully improvised toys made from tin cans, wire or wood, whatever
they can lay their hands on.
'Toys', the result of more than ten years
of travels round the world, with text by Jeremy Seabrook and poetry by
Imme Dros, has been published in Dutch and English by Mets & Schilt
in Amsterdam, and in German by Editions Braus in Heilderberg.
It is distributed by Pluto Books in the UK, Oxfam Intermon
in Spain, and by the University of Michigan Press in the
USA. Available through Amazon.com
Watch the slideshow in 
-
Tug of war. Maranhao, Brazil
-
Camera made of recycled materials. Havana, Cuba
-
Boy with wooden top. Chitwan, Nepal
-
Flying a kite in a rubbish dump. Luzon, Philippines
-
Toy gun in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
-
Special needs school. Port au Prince, Haiti
-
Girls riding in bamboo tube. Shanghai, China
-
Girl on a swing in a playground in Lebanon
-
The world upside down in Nicaragua
-
Father showing Action Man gun to his son at a toy store, London
-
Girl playing on stilts at a refugee camp in Mozambique
-
Wicket made of old tins. Eastern Cape, South Africa
-
Playing old computer games in the streets of Delhi, India
-
Taking photos of 'Minnie' at the Hall of Fame in Disneyworld, USA
-
Roller-skating in the streets of Paris
-
Nursery game at a Polisario refugee camp in Western Sahara
-
Playground in Managua, Nicaragua
-
Bartering old toys during Queen's Day open fair, Amsterdam
-
Playing piano under Che playing chess, Cuba
-
Driving into virtual reality canyons. California, USA
-
Improvised playground by giant sculpture, Punta del Este, Uruguay