Urban Landscape : Michael wolf (Tokyo Compression)

In this post I will be discussing Michael wolf alongside one of his works from "Tokyo Compression" (2010).

Michael Wolf (1994)

Here I present a short introduction about Michael Wolf. Wolf was born in Munich, Germany, raised in Europe, the United States, and Canada and grew up to become an artist and photographer who focuses on the details of structure within the city, both infrastructural and with people. 

His career in photo journalism had started in 1994 as he had worked for a German Magazine company named Stern before he left and started his fine-art career due to the work he had done there became boring and non-sensical. 

 

Michael Wolf : Tokyo Compression (2010) ,Entry no. 26

 

Let me introduce to you one of Wolf's works titled Tokyo Compression (2010) and a specific photo I had picked out. Firstly, Wolf had wanted to capture the same city-scape photos had taken before but this time he wanted to focus on creating awareness for the absurdity that is the underground train system of Tokyo. To convey this, he took photos of Japanese people being squished onto the transparent glass of the subway train and also stating that some of the people he took pictures of had closed their eyes or covered their faces when they became aware they were being taken a picture out of. As stated by Schüle (N/D), "Every day thousands and thousands of people enter this subsurface hell for two or more hours, constrained between glass, steel and other people who roll to their place of work and back home beneath the city. In Michael Wolf’s pictures we look into countless human faces, all trying to sustain this evident madness in their own way." Following this, Wolf had also said that the people had either a "woeful" o "traumatized" look shown on their faces.

From a shallow point of view, one may immediately notice the sad expression the person has through the window. However in my point of view, I can see this look of distaste or disappointment of "Why do I have to endure this" as the person in question looks outside to other people or in this case at the photographer. I have also observed the great lighting the picture has presented as it may as well perfectly convey what the picture wants to say as the only thing being shined by the sunlight was one of the eyes of the person above. This tells me that we can only see a part of what they are experiencing since not all of the world's population has experienced being cramped within a subway train and how some people have to go through that gruelling process everyday for the rest of their lives. We can only see what they are in, not how they feel and how it has drained most of their humanity. 

Overall, Michael Wolf's gallery of Tokyo Compression has moved me as I am more aware of what other people go through and how this hell-bent experience is but a norm for them. Though sad, once has to accept that this is one of life's realities and we should be happy not all of us have to go through it.

Reference:

LensCulture, M.W.| (no date) Tokyo Compression - photographs by Michael Wolf, LensCulture. Available at: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/michael-wolf-tokyo-compression (Accessed: January 30, 2023).