Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf (30 July 1954 – 24 April 2019) was a German born artist and photographer who captured daily life in big cities. His work takes place primarily in Hong Kong and Paris and focuses on architectural patterns and structures, as well as the documentation of human life and interaction in the city. Wolf has published multiple photo books, has had his work exhibited widely around the world, has permanent collections across Germany and the United States, and has won three World Press Photo Awards from 2005 to 2011. Early life Wolf was born in 1954 in Munich, Germany, and was raised in the United States, Europe, and Canada. He grew up in a family of artists; his father was a calligraphist and his mother worked with pottery and paint. He attended the North Toronto Collegiate Institute and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1976, he obtained a degree in visual communication at the University of Essen, Germany, where he studied with Otto Steinert. Professional career Wolf began his career in 1994 as a photojournalist, spending eight years working in Hong Kong for the German magazine Stern. As the magazine industry began to decline over the coming years, his photojournalism assignments became more dense, and he is quoted as saying that they were "stupid and boring." This led his career in a new direction as he strayed from photojournalism and instead began a career in fine-art photography in 2003, which is the work he is most credited for today. Notable works