Architecture of Density 76 by Michael Wolf

Born in Germany, then raised in Europe, Canada, and the United States, Wolf began his interest in photography when studying at UC Berkeley and the Folkwang School with Otto Steinert in Essen, Germany. Wolf later moved to Hong Kong in 1994 to begin his artistic career as a contract photographer for Stern magazine. Since 2001, Wolf has been focusing on his own projects, drawing his focus to the tradition of socially concerned photography, while also engaging with the radical transformation of photography of recent years.

Wolf found his inspiration as an artist living in Hong Kong and China, where the ever-shifting cityscapes provided him with constant stimulation. Rather than creating images that describe the immensity of China’s urban transformation, Wolf’s work in this region is based on the power of the vernacular. By ‘collecting’ a series of these urban minutiae he has been able to paint a much larger picture, not only of the contemporary Chinese city, but rather of the more universal realities of urban life. The stunning ‘blown-up’ images of Chicago’s modernist architecture in ‘Transparent City’ offer a point of contrast against the closed-up concrete towers from Hong Kong and China. These images oscillate between a microscopic and macroscopic view of the city, and seek to reveal what goes on inside the windows within each cityscape.

Artist CV (PDF)
Artist Bio (PDF)

Michael Wolf obituary: Photographer who concentrated on the high-density architecture of Hong Kong - The Guardian May 2019

How photographer Michael Wolf captured the melancholy of our teeming cities - The Guardian, April 2019

High-density megacities: the photographs of Michael Wolf - The Guardian, April 2019

Photographer Michael Wolf, chronicler of Hong Kong's high-density living, dies - CNN, April 2019

Life in megacities: Michael Wolf's photography - Deutsche Welle, January 2019

Michael Wolf's best photograph: four plucked ducks in Hong Kong (PDF) - The Guardian, April 2017

Striking photos show the reality of the Tokyo commute - BBC, June 2017

Michael Wolf (2011 Photo Contest) - World Press Photo Foundation, May 2017

Michael Wolf, Rencontres d’Arles - 2017

Encounters (PDF) - Elephant Magazine, 2016

Michael Wolf (PDF) - Unseen Magazine, 2016