The focus of the German photographer Michael Wolf's work is life in mega cities. 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 8 years as contract photographer for Stern magazine. Since 2001, Wolf has been focusing on his own projects, many of which have been published as books.

Wolf's work has been exhibited in numerous locations, including the Venice Bienniale for Architecture, Aperture Gallery, New York; Museum Centre Vapriikki, Tampere, Finland, Museum for work in Hamburg, Germany, Hong Kong Shenzhen Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. 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, California; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Museum Folkwang, Essen and the German Museum for Architecture, Frankfurt.

Wolf won first prize in the world press photo award competition on two occasions (2005 & 2010) and an honorable mention (2011.) In 2010, and again in 2017 he was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet photography prize.