Reconnecting With Your Imagination – Local toy photographer brings meaning to budding industry through creative, visual storytelling

As Valencia photographer Mitchel Wu touched down in San Francisco, his hunt for the perfect locale began – something wooded, something powerful.  After getting his things in order, he set off to find the right terrain, with his action figures and camera equipment in tow.  Mitchel was going to spend the day reimagining the action hero.
“As a professional toy photographer, my job is to reinvent how fans think of the superhero in their own minds – and write the figure’s story with the lens,” Mitchel said.  “For me, it always comes back to telling stories.”
Since he was a kid, Mitchel could see there was an element of storytelling alive in all different art forms.  What began with constant sketching and drawing eventually led to a six-year career as Manager of Product Design and Development with The Walt Disney Company.  From Disney, Mitchel decided to pursue photography, focusing on commercial and lifestyle shoots that often took up his weekends.  As time passed, however, Mitchel noticed time with his daughter was passing way too quickly.
“My daughter was in high school, and I realized I had a finite number of weekends left with her at home,” Mitchel said.
As Mitchel looked for a work-around, his nephew told him about toy photography.  In this budding line of work, photographers worked to support the branding and marketing strategies of toy companies large and small.
“I thought it was pretty bizarre at first,” he said.  “At that point, though, the industry was predominantly hobbyists.”
Quickly, Mitchel saw more.
“There was potential to surprise people – both with the technical elements and the storytelling,” he said.  “I just fell in love with it.”
Toy photography freed up Mitchel’s weekends, allowing him to attend sports games and watch his daughter grow up, and as Mitchel dove into the industry, it grew up around him.
Today, Mitchel explained, toy companies are revolutionizing the way people buy, sell and trade toys.  One major change is a shift in target
audience.  When a toy company hires Mitchel, it’s likely targeting adult fans and collectors – not kids.  And they’re trying to do more than sell toys – they’re trying to reconnect with your childhood love of the superhero.
“My goal for my work is to tell a story and bring motion and emotion to a static figure,” he said.  “I want to create the illusion of movement and make the viewer feel like those characters are alive.  I’m trying to bridge the gap between the person holding the toy and the story behind it.”
That’s why adult collectors are still interested in toys today, Mitchel explains.  Whether Mitchel’s photo is playful, surprising, humorous, sarcastic or emotional, it reconnects the viewer to the feeling he or she first had while playing with toys as a kid.
“Some of that playfulness gets lost as they move from kids who played with toys to adults who collect them,” Mitchel said.  “The playfulness in the photo helps trigger their own imagination – the love they had for the toys in the first place.  It’s almost like this imaginary world comes full circle for fans.”
As Mitchel works to breathe new life into the world of action figures, toy companies have taken notice.  Mitchel currently works steadily with two startup toy companies: IAmElemental and a new company that’s currently in transition.  Because these two companies are looking for growth, Mitchel’s goal is to build brand awareness.
“A lot of people don’t know these lines exist,” he said.  “The goal can be different with each campaign: to give their website a visual identity, to work in conjunction with the company’s marketing strategy, to boost social media presence and engagement.”
As the commercial toy world begins to catch on, this toy photography gig seems to be working out just as Mitchel planned.
“I want to enjoy myself – that’s what this is all about,” he said.
Follow Mitchel Wu Photography on Instagram at @mitchelwuphotography.

Photos by Mitchel Wu

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