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Michael Wolf’s milestone Hong Kong photobook in a new, expanded edition featuring new images

With its first publication in 2012, Michael Wolf’s photobook “Architecture of Density” has established itself as a milestone in the history of the medium. The series has earned Wolf international acclaim, and his photographs have become almost symbolic for Wolf’s adopted home of Hong Kong.
This new edition, created in collaboration with the late photographer’s wife, Barbara Wolf, features 9 additional, previously unpublished images from the archive of this unique photo series. Further, Marc Feustel, whom Michael Wolf called his “ghostwriter”, contributed a new essay for this edition.

Focusing on the specific visual elements of Hong Kong, Michael Wolf has depicted life amidst the architectural and social densification of one of the most crowded cities in the world and developed a distinctive photographic style for his series “Architecture of Density”. Any trace of a skyline or horizon is absent from his images, resulting in a flattening of space, transforming the city into a relentless abstraction of urban development from which the eye can no longer escape.

With this visual irritation, Michael Wolf conveys the feeling of an expansion of the buildings into infinity, which may also be the spatial experience of Hong Kong residents. These photographs have struck a nerve and have become part of our collective memory.
With the new edition of the photo book “Architecture of Density Hong Kong”, the series is once again available in book form and its diverse effects can finally be experienced by everyone.