Michael Wolf is a German artist and photographer, based in China. Wolf’s series, Tokyo Compression, is a interesting view of the city’s overcrowded subway system. His images reveal the faces of Tokyo commuters pressed up against windows soaked in condensation. Wolf’s subjects, while cramped and somewhat uncomfortable, generally seem resigned to their plight, showing a level of detachment or indifference. Simple, this is how one travel by subway in Tokyo. A number of the images show subject with a hand on the glass obscuring their faces in an effort to escape Wolf’s camera. One man defiantly flips Wolf the bird. I like the series, but also struggle with the fact that Wolf was shooting fish in a barrel, as a number of the subjects clearly didn’t want to be photographed.
Michael Wolf – Tokyo Compression
Michael Wolf – Tokyo Compression
Michael Wolf – Tokyo Compression
Michael Wolf – Tokyo Compression
Wolf’s photos are reminiscent of Walker Evans’s Many Are Called photographs of the New York subway from the late 1930s. The resignation and discomfort of Wolf’s subjects, coupled with his cool palette, give a sense of unease and claustrophobia.
Michael Wolf – Tokyo Compression
Reference
Wolf M. (2018) Michael Wolf [online], available: http://photomichaelwolf.com/#tokyo-compression/6 [accessed 7 Jan 2018].
Phaidon (2018) ‘People watch with a difference’, Phaidon [online], accessed: http://de.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/articles/2011/november/11/people-watching-with-a-difference/ [accessed 7 Jan 2018].
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