Alain Delorme’s Totems – in pictures

Totem 16: 'I couldn't believe the sheer volume of merchandise people carried around in Shanghai, whether by bike, tricycle or trolley,' says Alain Delorme Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 8: ‘The symbols of wealth the migrants carried was a shocking contrast to their poverty.’ Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 9: 'Each of the images follows a format: an economic migrant struggles under the weight of their load in the foreground, while wider Shanghai happens around them in the background.' Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 5: Delorme uses Photoshop to exaggerate the colours and the huge loads that Shanghai's porters carry through the city, presenting us with a sort of augmented reality of the city's paradoxes. The stacks mirror the city's skyward expansion Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 7: 'Each final image has been retouched beyond recognition; even a Shanghaian who appears in the photo wouldn't be able to recognise where the image is set.' Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 18: 'Although Shanghai is a polluted city, it's very clean: everything is picked up by rural migrants to be used for recycling.' Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 17: ‘I spent six hours a day riding my bike around Shanghai for six weeks, and then a year creating the series.’ Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 11: ' 'I took 6000 photos to create the final series of 18 images. Using photoshop, I increased the amount of goods to give the impression that the carrier is being engulfed ... This is to represent how our obsession with consuming the 'Made in China' products they carry creates a kind of slavery.' Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 16: ‘Certain things in the background that give the impression of a montage. Surroundings reconstituted, loads quadrupled, people added and erased. I create the illusion to really question what is real and what is plausible ... Humour and exaggeration allow us to reflect and think about the images.' Photograph: Alain Delorme

Totem 13: 'These interactions tell a universal story – it's up to the viewer to decide whether or not it's a true story' Photograph: Alain Delorme