Michael Wolf  (German, 1954) 

Michael Wolf (German, b.1954) is a notable artist and photographer who continues to play an important role in Contemporary Art. The majority of his work features daily life in suburban landscapes. The images are taken from street views of Google Earth and photographs obtained from real life catastrophes in cities. The artist was born in Germany and obtained a BA in Visual Communication from the University of Essen in Germany.

Wolf began his career as a photojournalist for the German magazine Stern. In 2004, he won first place for his photographs entitled Factories of the World. The photographs highlighted workers from many different types of factories. Wolf believed magazine photos were becoming boring and uninteresting. He began to only take pictures for Fine Art photography projects.

In 2002, Wolf completed a series entitled Bastard Chairs. In China, the Chinese people would repair small chairs using whatever materials they could find at the time. Wolf was detained several times while taking the photographs. Law enforcement believed his work would ultimately cause the Chinese people harm. The pictures featured the resourcefulness of the Chinese people. The series received positive views in the West, but received criticism from Chinese people who thought the pictures made China appear strange. Wolf exhibited some of his work at galleries such as the John Batten Gallery in Hong Kong, the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco, CA, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL. In 2008, Wolf created a series entitled Tokyo Compression. The images, which were later compiled into a book, depicted passengers on subway cars in Hong Kong. Wolf was allowed to get within inches of the glass, which enabled him to capture emotion.

In 2010, Wolf was awarded first place in the 2010 World Press Photo Award for his submission into the Daily Life category. Artists who have influenced Wolf throughout his career include Michael Schmidt (German, b.1945) and John Gossage (American, b.1946). Wolf's works are on permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany. He currently works and resides in Hong Kong and Paris.