A final tribute to his city: Michael Wolf in Hong Kong’s back alleys

Blown away by the wind and resting in all different postures on electric wires, roofs, and billboards, the laundry items in Michael Wolf’s photographs transform into peculiar sculptures of everyday life. With these images, Michael Wolf pays tribute to Hong Kong, his adopted home, one last time.

His approach is that of a chronicler and collector. Since 2003, he has compiled a visual encyclopedia of Hong Kong’s back alleys, photographing the artful installations of mops, gloves, chairs and lost laundry, owed to a lack of space and economic shortcomings. The photographer looks at these temporary arrangements with cognitive interest and subtle humor.

The book was designed and completed together with Michael Wolf in Hong Kong shortly before his death on 24 April 2019. “Hong Kong Lost Laundry” is the last volume of the “Informal Solutions” series.

《Hong Kong Lost Laundry》是他對這座城市的最後致敬：「多得神奇的風向和強大的颱風，它們將衣物散落到了所有地方。」

照片中的衣物被風吹走，以各種不同的姿勢擱淺於電線、屋頂和廣告牌上，變成我們日常生活中的奇特雕塑品。Michael Wolf 以這些影像向他的第二個家－香港致敬，而且這是最後一次。

Michael Wolf 的創作方法有如一位編年史家或收藏家。自2003年以來，他製作了一部關於香港後巷的視覺百科全書，捕捉由於空間和經濟上的缺陷，而巧妙地出現的丟失拖把、手套、椅子和衣物。攝影師以其眼中的興趣和微妙的幽默感去看待這些「限定藝術裝置」。

本攝影集是 Michael Wolf 於2019年4月24日去世前不久，於香港共同參與設計並完成的著作，亦是《非常道巷裡巷外》(Informal Solutions) 系列的最後一部。