Michael Wolf‘s photos are sad and human and show a reality without framing it. The juxtaposition of these simple and modest people with the uncharming factory procedures the toys go through, speaks for itself. This is what happens in the back of the lighted colourful toy shops. The fantasies these shops sell have nothing to do with how the toys come into being.
75% of the world’s cheap mass-produced toys are made in China. Often the ones that make these smiling and colourful toys are people who cannot afford a rent, cannot support their families and work long extra hours for a salary of (about) 240$ a month (see War on Want and China Labor Watch for more details).
Michael Wolf’s project consists of the photos but also of an instalation (see the end of the page) made by 16.000 plastic toys attached to the gallery walls with magnets. Each toy had a face and all of them were made in China. It took 3 people 10 hours per day for 3 days to install the toys. They were transported in 50 large boxes. The project involved 40 cans of black spray paint, 45,000 magnets and 45m sq of wall space.
Here you can see more about the project and how it has been made.
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