Michael Wolf: Tokyo Compression, Final Cut

26 May-1 Jul 2017

Overview

Michael Wolf is known for capturing the hyper-density of the cities of Hong Kong and Chicago through his large-scale photographs of its high-rise architecture. In his series Tokyo Compression, Wolf centres on the subsurface crush of the Tokyo subway, in which thousands of commuters make their daily journeys between work and home. Photographing individuals pressed against the windows of the crowded trains during the morning rush hour, Wolf’s images are a disquieting metaphor for the conditions that city-dwellers face in today’s dense urban centres. The images were photographed at Shimo-Kitazawa station in Tokyo over a period of four years. On March 25, 2013 the Odakyu subway line was relocated, thus bringing this series to a conclusion; this is the final cut.