Toy Freaks Returns

My latest shoot for The New York Times Magazine was with Greg Chism and his daughters, whose family became the focus of several YouTube channels, most notably “Toy Freaks.”

Greg had a real talent for finding playful, inventive ways to make videos with his daughters and keep an audience growing. But, as often happens with social media, audience appetite became insatiable. The content eventually crossed a line of good taste, and the timing was particularly unfortunate: it coincided with a growing backlash against the strange new world of children’s content on YouTube. Greg became an easy face to attach to it.

Like the best sessions, it was a mix of planned ideas and spontaneous opportunities. For example, it was raining off and on, so I built a shot around having them huddled under an umbrella together in the rain. Figuring out the lighting was messy and time-consuming, but once we got my assistant Sophia holding the portable B1X right behind them, the captured raindrops looked fantastic.

Another winner was the adult-size pacifier we brought. Sophia and I occasionally buy props off of Amazon, and most of them are stupid and useless, but occasionally one is a hit, and we can build a shot around it.

I hadn't planned on even opening this particular package. We were shooting against a blue seamless when Greg mentioned that he wished he had something relevant to play with for a portrait. He had handed me an opening, and I took it.

“Well, we do have something cool we bought for the shoot…”

I tore open the Amazon envelope and produced two adult-sized pacifiers, one blue and one pink. Against the blue background, the pink was the obvious choice.

Usually for scenarios like this I try to remove any friction, but in this case, I felt obligated to double-check before we jumped in. The story was already sensitive and strange, and he was now ten years out from the “playing a baby“ moment in a viral video, and he had gotten back some sort of normal life. I did not want to throw him back into that space again without giving him a moment to be fully on board.

Yet, I sensed that Greg had an adventurous creator personality, and the showman side of him could not resist a good idea.

Top Image: Greg Chism, of Toy Freaks. August 5, 2026. (Hand model: Sophia Pallwein-Prettner)

Second Image: At the pool with Victoria, Annabelle, and Victoria.

Third Image: An experimental rain portrait.

Bottom Images: Greg and I on a neighborhood watch.