Thomas Ruff (1958-)

"Ruff scrutinizes a range of photographic genres—architectural photography, newspaper images, portraiture, astronomy, pornography and nighttime imaging used by the military. He is fascinated with the processes of photography and image manipulation." (Acquisitions Justification)

Born in Southern Germany in Zell am Harmersbach in 1958, Ruff studied at the Staatliche Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf under Bernd Becher from 1977 to 1985. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, among others. He has participated in international exhibitions such as the Sao Paulo Bienal in 2002. He is the 2006 recipient of the International Center of Photography's Infinity Award.

Ruff first became known for a series of large-scale portraits in the format of passport photographs in which he combined the typological approach of his teacher Bernd Becher with the serial progressions and primary structures of Minimalism. "He went on to photograph—or appropriate and enlarge photographs or Internet images of—architecture, interiors, landscapes, nudes, stars, machines, and newspaper photos; he has also made night-vision photographs, superimposed negatives, and created montages, stereographs, and computer-altered images, including abstractions derived from Japanese manga." (Vicki Goldberg)

He lives and works in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Sources:
Acquisitions Justification
Vicki Goldberg, "Thomas Ruff with Vicki Goldberg" The Brooklyn Rail, June 2005