How would you react if you saw Spider-Man at the New Delhi Railway Station? Or Professor Calculus, from The Adventures of Tintin, waiting on the streets of Delhi to hitch a lift? While you might not witness these visuals (just yet) in real life, you can definitely spot them in photographs captured by Sainik Farms resident Surojit Dev (42).
The advertising film producer has mastered the art of capturing life-like photographs of toys and miniatures in urban settings. An avid fan of GI Joe and Hot Wheels, it was in 2017 that Dev started this venture—he calls it Toy Tales, and has both a website and an Instagram page (@toytalesofficial)—while interacting with his son during playtime. “On a weekend morning, my son and I were playing with his toys. That’s when I started clicking photographs on my phone camera,” mentions Dev.
Toy Tales is Dev’s way of infusing the mundane with a little bit of magic. A one-man army, he uses his son’s toy and miniatures to capture images in open locations around Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, among others. “These shoots just bring out the child in me. I blend the story of a toy with the real environment and craft a story via that visual imagery,” he explains.
Blending mundane with magic
If you chance upon the Toy Tales’ Instagram page, you will find glimpses of Tony Stark endorsing ‘desi engineering’, various instances of Hot Wheels’ cars on the streets, and other quintessential moments from everyday life that have been captured such that it brings to life the perspective of a toy.
His photograph of Thomas, the tank engine, carrying Afghan refugees is particularly interesting; it shows a number of refugees sitting atop the classic cartoon from Thomas & Friends. However, unlike most times, this time Thomas appears sad, probably thinking of the plight of these refugees. “With the figures on top of Thomas, I also tried to emulate the emotion of the Partition when people from Bangladesh and Pakistan had to sit on top of trains to travel to India. It must have been similar for the Afghans. I wanted to show how India was helping them by sending a special train,” Dev shares.
Apart from this, he also showcases light-hearted narratives such as one where Spider-Man is working out with Iron Man. Titled ‘Getting trained by daddy’, the photograph refers to an overweight Spider-Man, who lost his job during the pandemic, and is trying to get back in shape. The image—it shows Iron Man overseeing Spider-Man’s training—is also a reference to how the latter considers Tony Stark as a father figure.
No child’s play
“My idea is to show day-to-day Indian lifestyles through these toys. If I have a given set of toys, I try to backfit a story. If I had to create toys for every story I made, I would have to set up a factory,” quips Dev. However, at times, he does introduce a few handcrafted paper or clay characters created by two people he employs.
Dev also mentions that photography in outdoor locations is nothing short of a challenge. Recalling a shoot he conducted at Kolkata’s Howrah Station, he shares how he was robbed by small children because they were fascinated by the toys. He adds that other than minor glitches, he has never encountered any hindrance.
Building a community
Dev was even asked to make a series of photographs in the form of a micro story for the 2018 Comic Con India–Delhi, which featured the Night King, the first White Walker from Game of Thrones. Ask him how he wants to take this venture forward, and Dev concludes, “The intention is also to have photographers and filmmakers with different styles offer their point of view of shooting toys. Imagine a food photographer shooting with food and toys. That will be such an interesting concept.”