Award-winning photographer Mark Nixon has created a trove of quirky and nostalgic portraits of teddy bears and other stuffed animals that have been lovingly abused after years of play. Much Loved, which launched just last week, collects 60 of these images along with their accompanying background tales.

In a recent interview with Slate, Nixon mentions inspiration from photographer Irving Penn, whose still-life images transformed everyday objects like trash and food into art. Nixon remarks, “I just thought you could do the same thing with bears. You can take them and blow them up. It makes them iconic in a way. It gives them a presence or a gravity they don’t usually have.”

Much Loved is published by Abrams (ISBN: 1-4197-1012-5). The 128 page hardcover book features over 65 color photographs and is available online at Amazon and iBooks.

For more amazing photography, be sure to check out Mark’s work at the online links below.