michael wolf: paris street view exhibition

untitled, 2010 all images © michael wolf image courtesy of galerie wouter van leeuwen

‘paris street view’ is an outdoor exhibition in amsterdam’s zuidas area by german photographer michael wolf. the exhibition consists of 24 extremely large-format works installed in the streets for public viewing. over his years of living and working in hong kong and paris, michael wolf has concentrated on anthropological issues with a focus on urban living. contemporary visual culture features prominently in the meaning of his work and subjects such as population density, privacy and voyeurism are recurrent themes. ‘paris street view’ deals with the cultural identity of paris. with the aid of google street view technology, wolf investigates the concept of representation and symbolism. by using pixelated images from the internet, he breaks through paris’ nearly universally recognizable photographic iconography and suggests a new way of reading the city. two people embracing on a busy paris street, for instance, are a playful reference to robert doisneau’s ubiquitous ‘le baiser de l’hôtel de ville‘ from 1950. but cropping out parts of  images on google street view, ‘photos of photos’ are created that shed a new light on a city in which nearly everything has already been photographed. ‘paris street view’, presented by foam fotografiemuseum amsterdam is showing in the streets of zuidas in amsterdam until april 10.

‘paris street view’ exhibition

the couple captured in an intimate embrace references french photographer robert doisneau’s ‘le baiser de l’hôtel de ville’ from 1950