Thomas Ruff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas Ruff
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Thomas Ruff
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| Born | 10 February 1958 Zell am Harmersbach, West Germany
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| Education | Kunstakademie Düsseldorf |
| Known for | Photography |
| Movement | Düsseldorf School of Photography |
Thomas Ruff is a famous German photographer. He was born on February 10, 1958, and lives in Düsseldorf, Germany. People call him a "master" because he's really good at changing and creating new images.
He shares a photography studio in Düsseldorf with other well-known German photographers like Andreas Gursky. Their studio used to be an old electricity building!
Contents
Becoming a Photographer
Early Life and Learning
Thomas Ruff grew up in Germany's Black Forest. He was one of six children. When he was young, he loved ideas from a writer named Aldous Huxley, which gave him ideas for his photos. In 1974, he got his first camera. He took a class to learn the basics and started taking pictures like those in magazines.
While studying in Düsseldorf, Ruff learned a special way of taking photos called "conceptual serial photography." This means he takes many pictures of similar things to explore an idea. He started by photographing landscapes. Later, he took pictures of German homes from the 1950s to 1970s. He also photographed buildings and his friends.
From 1977 to 1985, Ruff studied photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. His teachers were Bernd and Hilla Becher, who were very famous photographers. Other students there included Andreas Gursky and Thomas Struth, who also became well-known photographers.
Teaching and Influences
Thomas Ruff once said that his teacher, Bernd Becher, showed him photos by American photographers like Stephen Shore. Ruff is often compared to other great European photographers from his time. From 2000 to 2005, Ruff taught photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, sharing his knowledge with new students.
Thomas Ruff's Photography Series
Thomas Ruff is known for creating different series of photographs. Each series explores a specific idea or type of image.
Portraits Series
Between 1981 and 1985, Ruff took 60 portraits in his studio. These photos looked a bit like passport pictures. The people were usually between 25 and 35 years old. He used even lighting and a flash, so the pictures were very clear.
At first, the portraits were small and black-and-white. But soon, Ruff started using color. He used plain, colored backgrounds, and the person being photographed could choose the color. The people in the photos often had serious or emotionless expressions.
In 1986, Ruff began making these portraits much larger, some as big as seven by five feet! An art critic once said these huge photos looked like "gigantic banners."
Ruff later experimented with creating "artificial faces" for his Anderes Porträt series (1994–1995). He used a special machine, like one the police used, to combine features from different faces. This allowed him to create faces that looked real but didn't actually exist.
Häuser (Houses) Series
The Häuser series was made between 1987 and 1991. For these photos, Ruff took pictures of buildings. He often digitally removed things that got in the way, making the buildings look very clean and typical. Ruff said these buildings showed the way West Germany looked in the past thirty years.
Famous architects Herzog & de Meuron noticed Ruff's unique way of photographing buildings. They even asked him to show his work at an architecture event in Venice in 1991. Ruff also photographed buildings by the famous architect Mies van der Rohe for his l.m.v.d.r. series.
Sterne (Stars) and Nacht (Night) Series
In 1989, Ruff started his Sterne series, which means "Stars." These weren't photos he took himself. Instead, he used old images of the night sky from an observatory in Chile. He picked out small parts of these photos and made them very large.
From 1992 to 1995, during the first Gulf War, Ruff created his Nacht series. For these, he used special night vision technology, like what the military used, to take pictures of buildings and outdoor scenes in the dark.
He also made a series called Zeitungsfotos (Newspaper Photos). For this, he took old newspaper clippings and made them much bigger, but without their original captions.
Zycles, Cassini, and ma.r.s. Series
Ruff's Zycles and Cassini series are inspired by science. Zycles uses 3D computer models to create colorful lines and swirls based on old science drawings.
The Cassini works use photos of Saturn taken by NASA. Ruff adds bright colors to these black and white images. In his ma.r.s. series, he also uses NASA photos of the planet Mars. He adds color and changes the view to make them look new. He even experimented with 3D images for the first time in this series.
Photograms Series
In his Photograms series, Ruff uses a technique called a photogram. This is a way of making pictures without a camera, by placing objects directly onto light-sensitive paper. Artists like Man Ray used this method a long time ago.
Ruff's photograms show abstract shapes, lines, and spirals. They look like they are randomly placed and have different levels of light. He creates these images using a special computer program that acts like a "virtual darkroom."
press++ Series
The press++ series, first shown in 2017, is based on old photos from American newspapers and magazines from the 1920s to the 1970s. Ruff found these photos online.
To make these artworks, he scans both the front and back of each old photograph. He then combines them digitally. This way, you can see the original picture, along with any marks, notes, or stamps that were added to it over the years.
d.o.pe Series
The d.o.pe series is named after a book by Aldous Huxley. For this series, Ruff prints special computer-generated patterns onto industrial carpets. These patterns are called fractals, which are complex shapes that repeat themselves. This series explores how we see things and how digital images can look both natural and artificial.
Collections
Thomas Ruff's artwork can be found in many important public art collections around the world, including:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
- Tate, UK
See also
In Spanish: Thomas Ruff para niños
