b. Zell am Harmersbach, Germany 1958

Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany

Thomas Ruff is a German photographer described as “a master of edited and reimagined images”. He attended Staatliche Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf from 1977 to 1985. Exploring new visual possibilities of photography using technological advancements, the artist might use digital manipulation for one subject and antiquated darkroom techniques for another. His photography suggests the possibilities of his chosen medium. Working in series, the artist creates defined bodies of work whose subjects might include abstractions of modernist architecture, obscured pornography empty domestic interiors or even appropriated interplanetary images captured my NASA. Ruff’s work can be found in many permanent public collections all over the world, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Art Institute of Chicago; Dallas Museum of Art; National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City; among others.

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