Thomas Ruff – Black Forest photographer of world renown

Quite high up on the list of the world's most respected artists is a German photographic artist who says of himself that he "had nothing to do with art" .

Thomas Ruff at a glance

Thomas Ruff , born in 1958, gained international recognition in the late 1980s as a prominent member of the Düsseldorf School, an illustrious group of young photographers trained under Bernd and Hilla Becher. This group shaped the photographic medium through its experimental approach and its engagement with the rapidly changing technologies of photography.

Ruff created a striking break with the style of his mentors and developed a distinctive perspective within conceptual photography . His work is characterized by the deliberate use of color and the creative manipulation of source images—initially through manual retouching techniques and later through innovative digital processes. By elevating photographic printing to a monumental level, he blurs the boundaries between photography and painting.

In clearly defined series, Ruff develops his techniques for the in-depth analysis of different photographic genres, including portrait, nude, landscape, and architectural photography . His comprehensive exploration of the "grammar of photography" has not only had a significant influence on subsequent generations of photographers but also explains the diversity of his subjects and the immense range of technical means employed in the creation of his works—from the use of outdated equipment to state-of-the-art computer simulations and everything in between.

Thomas Ruff's work invites us to question the often invisible mechanisms behind photography and takes the viewer into a fascinating world of image production that is both intellectually stimulating and artistically enriching.

Childhood and Ruff's path to photographic art

Thomas Ruff was born in 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach, a small town on the edge of the Black Forest. The fourth of six children, he enjoyed an eventful childhood in the small town, where his parents gave their children considerable freedom and otherwise supported them as best they could. For Thomas Ruff, this initially led to attending the mathematics and science high school in Hausach, an hour and a half away by train.

During his last three years at the Gymnasium (grammar school), Thomas Ruff received no art lessons due to a teacher shortage. He became interested in astronomy and, at 16, acquired his first camera, learning how to use it in an adult education course. Photography became his hobby , and after graduating from high school, Ruff wanted to study either astronomy or photography.

Photography seemed like the easier option to him; originally intending to become a travel photographer, he applied directly after graduating from high school in 1977 to the Düsseldorf Art Academy , at that time the only academy in Germany to offer a photography class. For his application, he submitted his twenty best 35mm slides, which were judged by the renowned photographer Bernd Becher , who had just taken up a professorship in photography at the art academy.

Bernd Becher selected Ruff, who completed his photography studies under him and his wife Hilla Becher , an equally renowned photographer who worked closely with her husband in training the students, until 1985. Together they ran an almost legendary art class in photography, later often referred to as the "Becher School," from which, besides Ruff, other internationally outstanding representatives of German photography emerged, such as Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Jörg Sasse, and Axel Hütte.

Thomas Ruff first came into close contact with art and artists during his studies; he had to learn to see in a completely new way and realize that his previously created beautiful landscape photographs were nothing more than pleasantly contemplative clichés. This initially (“naturally,” as he later said) led him into a profound crisis; he was unable to create anything for a year. However, it was precisely in this crisis that he transitioned from a mere interest in photography to an artistic exploration of photography.

He then began to create art himself, taking photographs that arose from an intelligent engagement with his surroundings. Ruff places great emphasis on authenticity in his work, which fosters the ability to see and photograph things independently of preconceived notions.

He took his time during his studies and afterwards to find his own path, and the success of this approach soon became apparent when he was approached relatively early on by first one, and then by several other galleries wanting to exhibit his work. And so it continued; Ruff never had to delve deeply into or become familiar with the marketing side of art, successfully relying on the (as he himself describes it, naive) belief of his early days that good work would automatically prevail.

Early works and international breakthrough

The first works to attract the attention of gallery owners were small-format portraits with a white background. Ruff exhibited them in Villeurbanne, France, in 1986 and there obtained the funds to commission his first large-format portraits. These were shown in 1987 at the Johnen & Schöttle Gallery in Cologne, and one was purchased for the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, which opened in 1991.

These portraits helped Ruff achieve international recognition ; they and his new series "Houses" were shown at major international exhibitions in the late 1980s ("Aperto" in Venice, "BiNationale" in Düsseldorf and Boston). Public and private collectors now showed so much interest in his work that he was able to embark on more expensive projects. In 1989, he began his "Stars" series, for which he purchased over 1,000 negatives of scientific astrophotographs.

Many contemporary events find expression in his work: in 1991, he responded to the French art critic with his "Blue Eyes" series , who had compared his portrait series to the art of Socialist Realism and Fascism. In 1992, television images from the Gulf War inspired Thomas Ruff to create the series " Nights ," some of which were exhibited at documenta IX .

In 1993, he received a scholarship in Rome, in 1994 he created two series that incorporated a wide variety of photographic techniques, and in 1999 Ruff was commissioned by the architect couple Herzog & de Meuron to design the facade of their design for the library of the Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences.

In 1995, Thomas Ruff's in the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale , and in 1996 he addressed various political events in his series of posters.

At the end of the 1990s, Thomas Ruff embarked on another artistic journey in the field of photography. Unlike many photographers, he did not draw his inspiration from his own photographs, but discovered it on the internet, where his shyness made him hesitant to make direct contact with people.

By the late 1990s, the internet was already established. I would enter terms like 'nude photography' and 'porn,' and these sites would appear immediately. It seems the world's oldest profession recognized the advantages of the internet early on

Ruff recalls in an interview with Deutschlandfunk Kultur*.

Ruff transformed the found images into pixelated artworks that developed a unique aesthetic. His aim was not simply to present his "heterosexual and male gaze on the female body ." Rather, he pursued a democratic approach by depicting all sexual preferences and practices, including their diversity.

Through his work, he encourages a more intensive exploration of the various facets of human sexuality and a redefinition of the boundaries between art and everyday perception.

In 1999 he began his famous series “nudes” , for which he used pornographic websites from the internet as source material. Various architectural photographs (Mies van der Rohe and others) became part of the series “lmvdr” , and again for Herzog & de Meuron he decorated the floors of the “Fünf Höfe” in Munich with images.

In 1999, Thomas Ruff received a professorship at the Düsseldorf State Academy , where (after a brief interlude by Jeff Wall ) he headed the “Becher Class” During this time, he also acquired a factory site in Düsseldorf together with Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte and Laurenz Berges, in which he moved into a large studio.

The internet remains a theme, also in the series “Substrate” and “JPEGs” ; the photo book “Nudes” was published in 2003 with a text by Michel Houellebecq. But not only that; in between, “The Explosive Object” was created, and “Stellar Landscapes” were shown in Münster , in which 60 images of Mars (from NASA) were manipulated to give the impression of viewing Mars from an airplane.

Like Mars, the series “Cassini” also shows references to his childhood love of astronomy, processing extraordinary and truly extraterrestrial images of Saturn and its moons, taken by the space probe of that name.

An overview of Thomas Ruff's impressive works was on display at the Haus der Kunst in Munich in the spring of 2012.

The following video shows a 30-minute interview with the artist, conducted by Thomas Weski at the Haus der Kunst in Munich:

Exhibitions around the globe

Ruff's works have been presented in numerous solo exhibitions at renowned institutions around the globe, including

• the Whitechapel Gallery in London (2017);
• the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo (2016; travelled to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan);
• the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto (2016);
• the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK) in Ghent (2014);
• the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2014);
• the Haus der Kunst in Munich (2012);
• the LWL State Museum for Art and Cultural History in Münster (2011);
• the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga in Spain (2011);
• the Castello di Rivoli in Turin (2009);
• the Museum of Contemporary Art in Freiburg, Germany (2009);
• the Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna (2009);
• the Műcsarnok Art Hall in Budapest (2008);
• the Moderna Museet in Stockholm (2007);
• the Sprengel Museum Hannover in Germany (2007);
• the Musée d'art moderne et contemporain in Geneva (2004);
• as well as the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City (2002).

In 2018, Thomas Ruff was featured in the exhibition “Photography Spotlight” at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which celebrated the opening of the museum’s new Photography Centre. To mark this special inauguration, the artist created a novel work entitled “Tripe,” which impressively demonstrated his masterful capacity for innovation.

A comprehensive retrospective of his work took place from 2020 to 2021 at the K20 – Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf. The major solo exhibition “Thomas Ruff: after.images – Works 1989–2020” , curated by Martin Germann, offered visitors a fascinating insight into Ruff's oeuvre and brought together not only the impressive works from the “Tableaux Chinois” , but also fifteen other series created as early as 1989, which were presented at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung.

In 2022, the exhibition “ Thomas Ruff: Méta-Photographie” shown at the Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole (MAMC) in France. Later that same year, the Kunsthalle Bielefeld in Germany hosted a duo exhibition presenting works by both Thomas Ruff and James Welling. This gave art enthusiasts the opportunity to experience two different artistic perspectives on the medium of photography and to trace their development.

Thomas Ruff in the gallery of David Zwirner

David Zwirner Gallery since 2000. During this time, the artist has had a total of twelve solo exhibitions in the gallery's various spaces. These include several impressive presentations in New York (in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2022), as well as outstanding exhibitions in London (2016), Hong Kong (2019), and Paris (2021). Each of these events not only offered profound insights into Ruff's artistic practice but also contributed to the increased appreciation of his art on an international level.

“Thomas Ruff: expériences lumineuses” has been announced for January 2025 in London.

Further information and a wider selection of his works can be found on artnet – Thomas Ruff A small selection of color lithographs and giclée prints by the renowned German photographer can also be found in our online gallery

Thomas Ruff's works regularly fetch record prices at auctions; his most expensive painting from the "Stars" was auctioned for an impressive 180,000 euros.

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and Managing Director of Kunstplaza. Journalist, editor, and passionate blogger in the field of art, design, and creativity since 2011. Successful completion of a degree in web design as part of a university study (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expressive painting, and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.

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