Michael Wolf, an award-winning German photographer best known for his documentation of life in megacities, has died at his home in Hong Kong.

Wolf died in his sleep on Wednesday aged 64, Sarah Greene, an art gallery director who worked closely with him, said on Friday. She did not give a cause of death.

Greene, who helped run Wolf's studio and organized some of his exhibitions and book launches, called Wolf "a sensitive observer who perceived the world like no other."

Read more: Life in megacities: Michael Wolf's photography

Wolf's work depicted the intense urban development that has overtaken some parts of the world and explored themes of mass production, innovation and the relationship between the photographer and the public.

He won first prize in the World Press Photo competition twice, in the contemporary issues category in 2005 and in the daily life category in 2010. His body of work included Tokyo, Chicago, Paris and Hong Kong, where he spent most of his life.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities No space in the big city Close together, Tetris level 12, stale air and no view: These huge housing complexes are painted in different colors to help people keep them apart. Michael Wolf focused on how people live in Hong Kong, his home since 1994, in his "Architecture of Density" photography series.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities Feeling trapped There is no up and no down, it seems as if life were caught between the slabs of the surrounding buildings. No visible sky, no visible earth — the photographer captured a sense of entrapment that leaves the viewer breathless.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities Nightmarish living conditions Michael Wolf aims to document and heighten awareness on how people live in the megacity. As the fourth-most-densely-populated region in the world, housing is scarce and expensive in Hong Kong. It also has the world's largest number of skyscrapers.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities Squeezed by urban life Crowded trains, people's faces pressed against the window panes: Wolf's "Tokyo Compression" series shows close-ups of anonymous and vulnerable commuters. The Tokyo Metro has on average 6.84 million passengers.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities Across the window The "Tokyo Compression" photo series was taken between 2010 and 2013. The photographer took them from a particular train platform that didn't have surveillance cameras. There are strict rules about taking pictures in public places in the Japanese capital.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities A view Life in the city became too much for Wolf, so he moved to the island of Cheung Chau, which is 10 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong. For the "Cheung Chau Sunrise" series, he took a picture of the sunrise from the rooftop of his home every morning.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities Ocean of plastic toys In 2005, Wolf won the Word Press Photo award for the above picture, an impressive installation made of 20,000 toys made in China. The colorful plastic array frames a portrait of factory workers.

German photographer Michael Wolf explores cramped life in megacities A woman's job at the Krups plant The above photo "Bottrop-Ebel" dates back to 1976, one of Wolf's earliest works. It was taken at a time when the West German Ruhr region was undergoing massive structural change and people worried about their jobs. The series was part of the photographer's final thesis at the Folkwang School in Essen. Author: Rayna Breuer (db)



From Germany to Hong Kong

"His main muse was Hong Kong," said Greene, the director of Blue Lotus Gallery. "Hong Kong was his favorite city, which kept inspiring him, zooming out on the beehive with his iconic work Architecture of Density and zooming into the veins of the city exploring the vernacular beauty of the back alleys."

Born in Munich, Germany, Wolf grew up in the United States and Canada and studied at the University of California, Berkley, and Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, where he studied under photographer Otto Steinert.

He moved to Hong Kong in 1994, where he worked as a photographer for Stern magazine before focusing on his own projects, many of which were turned into books.

Read more: Jakarta: Saving a sinking megacity

Architectural and human density

In his Tokyo Compression series, Wolf turned his camera from buildings to the captive passengers pressed against the windows of the crammed Tokyo subway. "The density is no longer architectural but human, as commuters fill every available square inch of these subway cars," the series description reads.

Wolf won an honorable mention in the 2011 World Press Photo competition for his A Series of Unfortunate Events series, which saw him use his computer to capture scenes he found while exploring Google Street View.

The decision stirred controversy, with some critics questioning whether the appropriation of Google Street View could be considered photography.

But from Wolf's perspective, the series "raises questions about privacy in the modern city and highlights the double standards relating to governments' attempts to regulate street photography while Google is creating an unauthorized photographic map of the world."

law/sms (AP,

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