Shanghai’s Factories: Fieldwork Photographs from 1990

In October 1990, I conducted fieldwork in Shanghai to observe and, where possible, visit the city’s factories. My research at the time focused on understanding how these workplaces were being transformed under the sweeping reforms initiated by the Chinese government in the mid-1980s. The result was a rare photographic record of industrial Shanghai on the eve of deep structural change. This series of photographs—now available on Virtual Shanghai—offers a candid glimpse into the physical and s...