Thomas Ruff, a pioneering photographer born in 1958, shares insights about his artistic evolution and influences from various cultural sources. He discusses the intricate balance between homage and originality in photography, reflecting on how figures like Ernst Haas shaped his style. Ruff also delves into the transformative power of photography, merging traditional and digital techniques, while emphasizing the role of imagination in art. With a knack for humor, he highlights how satire and personal experiences influence his creative process, ultimately redefining the medium.
Thomas Ruff reflects on photography's evolution and emphasizes the balance between imagination and documentation in his artistic approach.
Ruff explores the significance of scale in photography, enhancing viewer engagement and altering perceptions of images as objects.
His innovative manipulation of found photographic materials challenges traditional narratives, inviting dialogue about authenticity and representation in contemporary art.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Photography
Photography has evolved significantly since its inception, transitioning from pioneers experimenting with customizable materials to standardized processes dominated by companies like Kodak. This transformation limited the richness of unique photographic techniques and materials that existed in the early years, when artists created custom photosensitive plates and printing papers. Thomas Ruff, a major figure since the 1980s, reflects a relentless curiosity about this evolution, continuously questioning the medium's boundaries. His work demonstrates a commitment to expanding photography's conceptual and technical possibilities, emphasizing that imagination is just as crucial as documentation.
Expression Through Scale
Scale plays a critical role in Thomas Ruff's work, as demonstrated by his portrait series that began with small prints but evolved into large-scale images. Ruff discovered that larger formats forced viewers to engage differently with the photographs, bringing attention to the image as an object rather than a mere representation of reality. This shift not only separated the acts of viewing and remembering but also created a new relationship between the viewer and the subject, making the photographic surface more pronounced. Through this exploration, Ruff emphasizes the importance of scale in shaping the viewer's experience and understanding of photographic images.
Reimagining Existing Imagery
Thomas Ruff's artistic practice involves an innovative approach to existing images, particularly through archives and found photographs. His series featuring newspaper images strips the photographs of their accompanying text, questioning the inherent storytelling power of these images. By utilizing archival materials like images from the European Southern Observatory or low-resolution pornographic stills, Ruff reinterprets them, imbuing them with new meaning while engaging in a dialogue about authenticity and representation. This active manipulation of found materials positions Ruff as both a creator and curator, emphasizing how recontextualization can alter perception.
Technological and Cultural Commentary
Ruff's work responds to the technological shift from analog to digital photography, exploring the implications of this transition on representation and authenticity. In his JPEG series, he investigates the artistic potential of digital artifacts created through compression, transforming images of historical events into visually striking compositions. Similarly, his Tableau Xinhua series juxtaposes traditional Chinese propaganda with modern digital manipulation, creating a metaphor for the complexities of truth in a post-truth society. Through these critiques, Ruff's work serves as a commentary on the evolving nature of images in contemporary culture.
The Role of Playfulness in Art
A sense of playfulness is a fundamental element in Thomas Ruff's artistic process, allowing for experimentation and exploration of new ideas and techniques. His willingness to combine rigorous conceptual frameworks with a creative, spontaneous approach enables a constant back-and-forth between structure and improvisation. This playful spirit manifests in his various series, from photograms to flower photography, where he freely interacts with artistic traditions while redefining them. Ultimately, Ruff’s approach underscores the importance of joy and curiosity in the creative process, suggesting that artistic exploration is not merely about serious inquiry but also about enjoying the journey.
Thomas Ruff talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work.
Ruff was born in 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach, in what was then West Germany, and has, over five decades, extensively probed the forms and possibilities of photography. Though he is a key figure in the international generation of artists that emerged in the 1980s and experimented with the very nature of the photographic medium and discipline, Ruff has carved out a singular practice. He works in distinct series whose formal characteristics vary enormously, but are underpinned by experimental unorthodoxy, technical curiosity and conceptual rigour. Each new group contributes to a profound philosophical exploration of the photographic image and what it means to make a picture. But while the intellectual underpinning of his work is unwavering, Thomas makes prints that are remarkably beautiful objects. Operating in a medium that remains associated with the factual record and documentary, he has relentlessly made the case for a photographic practice in which imagination is a primary agent. He discusses his interest in “the puzzle of photography”, the distinctive geneses of his various series of work, and his conviction that while seeking an “intellectually high-end product… of course I want to have fun”. He reflects on the early influence of the photographer Ernst Haas, how Piero della Francesca influenced his early Portraits series, how he chose to study art over astronomy, yet outer space has remained a core concern in his work, and how the satirical television show Spitting Image proved an unlikely influence. Of course, he reflects on the work of numerous photographers, from Eugène Atget and Walker Evans to Lou Landauer and his teachers in Düsseldorf, Bernd and Hilla Becher. Plus, he answers our usual questions, including the ultimate, “What is art for?”
Thomas Ruff: expériences lumineuses, David Zwirner, London, until 22 March; his work features in Typologien, a survey of 20th-century German photography at Fondazione Prada, Milan, 3 April-14 July.
