Wet Market tour
You can't escape the news these days. The coronavirus is sweeping around the globe while impacting all aspects of daily life.
A woman looks at her mobile phone while tending a booth at a Beijing, China wet market.
The coronavirus, now known by its scientific name of COVID-19, likely originated in bats or pangolins and had the first transmission to humans in Wuhan, China, according to Medical News Today. The epicenter of the disease is thought to be the Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. The market is commonly known as a “wet market.”
Wet markets are popular shopping areas where live animals, people and butchered meat are housed close to each other, creating the opportunity for viruses and diseases to jump from infected animals to humans. I had the opportunity to visit wet markets in Beijing and Shanghai, China.
For westerners not accustomed to wet markets, it can cause sensory overload. As you walk the aisles workers use cleavers to butcher fresh meat. The blood from the freshly cut protein drips onto the floor and is tracked from stall to stall through a maze of aisles compacted into an area that is equivalent to a football field. In other areas, various species of aquatic life splash in tubs of water as customers browse the selection.
For more than two decades, Joseph L. Murphy has had the pleasure of meeting and connecting with people from all walks of life through photography. He has photographed presidents and heads of state, traversed the winding alleyways of the Fes Medina in Morocco, photographed the sprawling countryside and people that make up Argentina and covered events that have defined the U.S. Most recently, Murphy’s travels have taken him to Cambodia, Mexico, China, Vietnam and Ecuador.
He has spent the past 20 years specializing in agriculture photography for multiple organizations, publications and marketing projects.
A graduate of the University of Iowa, Murphy determined at an early age that his love of photography would shape his vision for life.