Nam Tai

Contemporary Issues, first prize stories

00-03-2004

Eight people share each of the 10 square meter rooms in the Nam Tai factory dormitory block. In recent years China has grown to become the world's fifth largest exporter of merchandise, and has one of the world's fastest growing economies. A huge influx of migrant workers is required to meet demand in city factories.

Commissioned by: Laif Photos & Reportagen for Stern

Photo Credit: Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf was born in 1954 in Munich, Germany. He grew up in the United States, Europe and Canada, and studied at UC Berkeley and at the Folkwang School in Essen, Germany. In 1994, Wolf moved to Hong Kong and worked for eight years as a contract photographer for Stern magazine, until he left to pursue his own projects. Wolf's photographic work in Asia focuses on the city and its architectural structures, and follows on from his interest in people and human interaction. He has published seven photobooks to date. Wolf's work has been exhibited extensively in galleries and art fairs throughout the world since 2005, and is held in permanent collections across the US and Germany. Wolf has won previously won a World Press Photo award, a first prize in Contemporary Issues stories in 2005.