Living in the Shadows: China's Internal Migrants

Living in the Shadows: China's Internal Migrants from David Campbell on Vimeo.

This multimedia project - photographed, with audio and video, by Photo MA Graduate Sharron Lovell, and produced by David Campbell - tells the story of three families of Chinese migrant labourers in Shanghai, and the struggles they face as undocumented internal migrants.

China's massive economic growth has both created and been fueled by the world's largest peacetime migration, with 200 million people moving from the countryside to the city.

However, because of the 'hukou' or household registration system in China, internal migrants are often in a legal limbo, denied access to local social services, and discriminated against by both the state and private employers. This project reveals how three families have dealt with this situation.

For more background on the story see: david-campbell.org/multimedia/living-in-the-shadows/