The publication of the final book on which Michael Wolf himself collaborated, released in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of his passing.
Renowned photographer Michael Wolf (1954–2019), originally from Canada, Europe, and the United States, relocated to Hong Kong in 1994. For eight years, he served as a contract photographer for Stern Magazine. Wolf’s primary focus was capturing the essence of life in sprawling urban centers. Many of his projects delve into the architecture and cultural fabric of these megacities, with “Hong Kong Whispers” being a prime example.
Within this volume lies a captivating series of images showcasing the dynamic metropolis of Hong Kong. Wolf’s photographs engage in a dialogue with the incisive and enigmatic illustrations of Arpaïs Du Bois (born 1973). Drawing upon a profound immersion in Wolf’s photographic series, Du Bois contemplates the overlooked moments and occurrences that define metropolitan life. The visual interplay between photographs and drawings emerged during Du Bois’s extended visit to Hong Kong in 2014, where both artists collectively and individually observed the cityscape.

About the Authors

Michael Wolf (Munich, 1954 – Hong Kong, 2019)
The focus of the German photographer Michael Wolf’s work is life in megacities. Many of his projects document the architecture and the vernacular culture of metropolises. Wolf grew up in Canada, Europe and the United States, studying at UC Berkeley and at the Folkwang school with Otto Steinert in Essen, Germany. He moved to Hong Kong in 1994 where he worked for some years as a contract photographer for Stern magazine. Since 2001 he has focused on his own projects, many of which have been published by his close friend Hannes Wanderer (Peperoni Books).
Wolf’s work has been exhibited in many locations, including the Venice Biennale for Architecture, Aperture Gallery in New York; Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland, Museum for Work in Hamburg, Germany, the Hong Kong Shenzhen Biennial, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. In 2017 a big retrospective exhibition was beautifully curated by Wim van Sinderen. Launched in Arles and co produced by the Fotomuseum den Haag, it was accompanied by book Works (Peperoni Books, 2017, with a text by Marc Feustel). A smaller version of this exhibition was presented at Fondazione Stelline, Milan, in 2018.
His work is held in many permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the San Jose Museum of Art in California, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Museum Folkwang in Essen and the German Museum for Architecture in Frankfurt.
He won the first prize at the World Press Photo twice (2005 and 2010). received an honorable mention in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet in 2010.
His work has been published in over thirty books, mostly released by Peperoni Books, until publisher Hannes Wanderer’s untimely death in 2018.
Among the posthumous publications: Paris (5 Continents Editions, 2019) and Architecture Of Density Hong Kong (Buchkunst Berlin, 2022; a body of work first published by Peperoni Books and Asia One in 2012), and now Hong Kong Whispers.

Arpaïs Du Bois (°1973, lives and works in Antwerp) approaches man’s being-in-the-world in a very personal and intimate way. Her drawings and texts are at the same time sharp and ambiguous; playful and poetic observations of the world that surrounds her. Out of an intense involvement, she reflects on societal issues, big and small, and the often unnoticed moments and events that shape our lives. Amidst the abundance of impressions that come to us every day, Du Bois’s drawings create a moment of stillness and reflection. They are often syntheses of images, expressing as much as possible with a minimum of resources. They offer the viewer a resting point, a way to frame the chaotic reality.
The content of Du Bois’s exhibitions is generally provided in the form of pages torn from her drawing books arranged in novel constellations, combined with mid-scale and large-scale drawings and paintings on paper. She is represented by GALLERY FIFTYONE in Antwerp.
Her work has been published in many books. Among them, Where we met (Lannoo, 2011 -with Yamamoto Masao) and Hong Kong Whispers (Hannibal Books, 2024).