The Project
This photography project explores the ordinary labor that sustains extraordinary innovation. Rather than focusing on finished products or famous companies, I turned my camera toward the people who support every stage of production, distribution, maintenance, and care. Each photograph captures a small moment in a much larger network of making.
Why Huaqiangbei?
Often referred to as "China's Silicon Valley," Huaqiangbei is celebrated as a place of rapid innovation and entrepreneurial ambition. Yet beyond the storefronts filled with electronics lies another story—one told through delivery riders weaving through traffic, workers hauling boxes by hand, repair technicians soldering circuit boards, and shopkeepers whose everyday labor keeps the district alive. I traveled to Huaqiangbei to document these overlooked forms of work and to better understand the human infrastructure behind technology.
As you explore the images, I invite you to look beyond what is immediately visible. Consider not only the technologies on display, but also the people whose work allows those technologies to exist.
A Community, Not Just a Marketplace
Huaqiangbei, specifically the SEG Electronics Market, felt less like a collection of individual shops and more like a community. Vendors chatted with one another across stalls. A vendor walked through the market selling Yakult, a popular beverage, while snack shops—both inside and outside the building—offered workers a place to grab a quick pause between tasks.
A Familial Affair
Business and family life seemed deeply intertwined. Young children played video games behind counters or finished homework while parents worked. As they grew older, many became part of the daily rhythm—boxing products, organizing inventory, or assisting with simple repairs.
The Role of Women
Across many stalls, women appeared to outnumber men. They managed storefronts, assembled electronics, handled customer interactions, and coordinated daily operations. Their presence challenged my assumptions about who performs the everyday work that sustains the hardware ecosystem.
Tea & Smoke
The scent of tea and cigarette smoke drifted through the aisles. Between sales, vendors gathered around small tables, sharing tea and conversation. Business appeared to be built on the trust, familiarity, and time spent together that those products bring.
The Sound of Packing
The sharp rip of packing tape echoed from stall to stall, becoming the soundtrack of constant movement as products were boxed, sealed, and sent on their way.
The Work Behind the Work
Even beyond the vendors is a network of even more unseen labor—security guards, cleaners, food delivery drivers, handcart operators, and landscapers. Their work fades into the background, yet they're the ones who maintain the safety, cleanliness, and daily operations that allow thousands of daily transactions to take place.
Going to Huaqiangbei and seeing these moments challenged my understanding of what it means to be a "maker." These seemingly ordinary moments—the sound of packing tape, children running around the marketplace, vendors sharing tea, cleaners sweeping—formulate an alternative picture to what we conventionally understand as "innovation."
"Making" is not exclusive to the engineers and entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, nor does it magically emerge from garages. "Making" is impossible without the networks of everyday labor, even though they remain hidden.
The Question
For years, I thought being a maker meant designing and building objects. But every project left me wondering about everything that existed before the finished product in my hands. Who built the printer I used? Who assembled its components? Who transported the filament across the world? These questions led me beyond the workshop and into a broader investigation of the people and systems that make creation possible.
