The shopper’s paradise, in the city of Yiwu, covers 46 million square feet and has about 62,000 booths, with 100,000 suppliers exhibiting 400,000 kinds of products.
The sheer enormity of the place posed challenges for London-based Seymour, who visited Commodity City twice last year.
“I tried to see as much as I could in the days that I was there, and became very quickly exhausted by the constant sensory overload,” he said via email. “I spent a total of four days constantly walking around Yiwu and wouldn’t say I got near to seeing all of the stalls.”
Seymour’s “Yiwu Commodity City” photo project began in January 2014, when he established both the style and content of his photos: the sellers in their environments in addition to the monotony of the market itself.
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“I definitely view the items I see in many shops differently now that I have seen (Yiwu). I’ll often see a particular item whilst walking around London and think to myself, ‘I’m sure that came from Yiwu,’ ” Seymour said.
According to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, more than 60% of the world’s Christmas decorations are made in Yiwu and wholesaled at Commodity City. The likelihood is relevant well beyond Christmastime, however. Whether enjoying the beach, purchasing clothing or even playing games at the local fairground, consider if the “Made in China” label imprinted on those inflatable beach balls, shirt buttons, and cuddly teddy bears perhaps connects all the way to one of the Commodity City booths.
“I believe that more and more, we are defining our environments not as the spaces themselves, in terms of the buildings or architecture, but rather by the objects and devices that we buy and surround ourselves with. … I would like that message to carry through universally,” Seymour said.
Richard John Seymour is a photographer based in London. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
