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Levinthal began photographing toy soldiers in 1972, simulating reality in scenes that balanced between credibility and evident artificiality. In the mid-1980s he turned to depictions of the mythical Wild West, and fabricated tabletop scenarios with children's playthings. Levinthal wants his images to call into question our fascination with heroic male figures in "cowboys and Indians" programs on television and in Hollywood films, figures of historical legend who obscure the politics of Westward expansion and its attendant racial injustices. "I don't think childhood is at all innocent, so why should toys be?" Levinthal has argued. "It's a period of socialization and conformity. Boys are supposed to grow up strong and stalwart men."