Thomas Ruff Transforming Photography

Over the course of his three-decade career, Thomas Ruff has taken up many approaches to photography in his investigation into the status of the image in contemporary culture.

In Thomas Ruff, the artist presents new work that continues his ongoing probe into the history, processes, techniques, and technology of photography. One of the most influential photographers working today, Ruff has redefined photography’s conceptual possibilities, simultaneously capturing and challenging the essence of the medium as a means for visual experience. He has investigated various photographic genres, including portraiture, the nude, and landscape and architectural photography, using both analog and digital technologies, and culling imagery from scientific archives, print media, and the internet.
 
Presented here is a selection of Ruff’s most well-known works, as well as the newer Tripe/Ruff series, begun in 2018, which draws on negatives of India and Burma taken in the 1850s by an officer in the East India Company army. Also included is a conversation between Ruff and Okwui Enwezor, which took place at Haus der Kunst in Munich, in connection with the artist’s retrospective then on view. The conversation, published here for the first time, has been edited for this volume and examines Ruff’s artistic practice and inspiration, serving as an engaging and dynamic introduction to the artist.

Published on the occasion of the artist’s solo exhibition at David Zwirner, Hong Kong, in 2019, Thomas Ruff is available in both English-only and bilingual English/traditional Chinese editions.

In his considered approach to the means and possibilities of photography, Thomas Ruff (b. 1958) explores a breadth of themes that is reflected in the range of techniques he employs: analogue and digital exposures taken by the artist exist in his practice alongside computer generated imagery, photographs from scientific archives, and pictures culled and manipulated from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. Born in 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach, Germany, Ruff attended the Staatlichen Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf from 1977 to 1985. 

Okwui Enwezor was a curator and served as director of Haus der Kunst, Munich. He was artistic director of several international exhibitions, including the 56th Venice Biennale (2015); La Triennale 2012, Paris; 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008); 2nd Seville Biennial (2006); Documenta 11, Kassel (2002); and the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale (1997). He was the former dean of academic affairs and senior vice president of the San Francisco Art Institute and held the position of visiting professor at several universities, including Columbia University and New York University.

In his considered approach to the means and possibilities of photography, Thomas Ruff (b. 1958) explores a breadth of themes that is reflected in the range of techniques he employs: analogue and digital exposures taken by the artist exist in his practice alongside computer generated imagery, photographs from scientific archives, and pictures culled and manipulated from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. Born in 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach, Germany, Ruff attended the Staatlichen Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf from 1977 to 1985.