Thomas Ruff(II)
- Director
- Writer
From 1977 to 1985 he studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. He was a student of Bernd and Hilla Becher, among others. Thomas Ruff emerged from Bernd Becher's school as an internationally recognized star alongside his fellow students Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte and Thomas Struth. While he initially made small-format photographs, his portrait series since 1986 have been on a monumental scale. They reflect his objective, neutral and concentrated observation. They are realized in such a way that both clothing and faces are depicted down to the smallest detail with hyper-precision. At first glance, his pictures don't seem spectacular. Only at second glance does the viewer notice the great objectivity in the artist's observation and reproduction. It is precisely this great objectivity that clearly points to the difference between reality and photos. Nevertheless, their faces show individuality and personality. While he was still studying, Thomas Ruff photographed bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms and especially bedrooms from the 1950s to the 1970s in his early work.
He either took photos of the overall impression of the room or he photographed the individual object. Since 1987 he has also turned to architectural photography. It depicts residential buildings, school buildings, administrative buildings and factory buildings. He maintains the same neutrality. He achieves this through certain consistent guidelines, which he sticks to radically. The architectural buildings are captured either frontally or in a corner perspective. The uniform image sharpness, the neutral lighting and the always same position at a height of around three meters ensure the intended neutrality in Ruff's architectural photography. The buildings completely fill the picture as the main object, so that the surroundings are hidden. Some of the images are digitally post-processed to eliminate interference. However, this also results in a reduction in the information content.
With these standards, the photographer achieves the typical objectivity of his images. As with his other motifs, a single shot of the object in question is enough for him, which means he emphasizes the exemplary nature of his depictions. This eliminates the need to compare the object from different perspectives. For Ruff, the architectural photographs are also documentation of a zeitgeist that is particularly evident in the facades of the buildings. In 1988 he received the North Rhine-Westphalia State Promotion Prize for Young Artists and in 1990 the Dorothea von Stetten Art Prize. From 1989 onwards, photographs of the starry sky followed, which were not based on his own photographs. In 1999 he received the professorship for photography at the Düsseldorf State Art Academy. Ruff led the photography class there (the former Becher class) from 2000 to 2006.
In 2003, Thomas Ruff published the photo volume "Nudes" with a text by the French writer Michel Houellebecq. In addition to the plate camera, Thomas Ruff also uses special cameras or antiquated cameras. He also incorporates images from the Internet into his work.
He either took photos of the overall impression of the room or he photographed the individual object. Since 1987 he has also turned to architectural photography. It depicts residential buildings, school buildings, administrative buildings and factory buildings. He maintains the same neutrality. He achieves this through certain consistent guidelines, which he sticks to radically. The architectural buildings are captured either frontally or in a corner perspective. The uniform image sharpness, the neutral lighting and the always same position at a height of around three meters ensure the intended neutrality in Ruff's architectural photography. The buildings completely fill the picture as the main object, so that the surroundings are hidden. Some of the images are digitally post-processed to eliminate interference. However, this also results in a reduction in the information content.
With these standards, the photographer achieves the typical objectivity of his images. As with his other motifs, a single shot of the object in question is enough for him, which means he emphasizes the exemplary nature of his depictions. This eliminates the need to compare the object from different perspectives. For Ruff, the architectural photographs are also documentation of a zeitgeist that is particularly evident in the facades of the buildings. In 1988 he received the North Rhine-Westphalia State Promotion Prize for Young Artists and in 1990 the Dorothea von Stetten Art Prize. From 1989 onwards, photographs of the starry sky followed, which were not based on his own photographs. In 1999 he received the professorship for photography at the Düsseldorf State Art Academy. Ruff led the photography class there (the former Becher class) from 2000 to 2006.
In 2003, Thomas Ruff published the photo volume "Nudes" with a text by the French writer Michel Houellebecq. In addition to the plate camera, Thomas Ruff also uses special cameras or antiquated cameras. He also incorporates images from the Internet into his work.