cassini 26. 2009. Chromogenic print
108.5 x 108.5 x 4 cm. Edition of 6

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cassini 32. 2009. Chromogenic print
108.5 x 108.5 x 4 cm. Edition of 6

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nudes ku12. 2001. Cibachrome with Diasec
129.2 x 100.3 cm. Edition of 5

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German photographer THOMAS RUFF has been capturing and questioning the essence of photography as both a means and a tool for visual experience for more than two decades, completing a dozen series of photographs that range from seemingly banal images of streets and buildings to computer-generated prints of sensuous psychedelic colour fields. He carries out these investigations using his own analog and digital photographs, computer-generated images, alongside images culled from scientific archives, print media, and the Internet.

For the cassini series (the first two pictures) are based on photographic captures of Saturn taken by NASA’s Cassini-Huygens Spacecraft, which
launched in 2004 and completed its initial four-year mission in June 2008. RUFF acquired these black and white raw images from NASA’s website, where they were broadcast directly from the spacecraft and made available for public download. Through computer manipulation, he infused
each gray-scale image with saturated color.

“Every photo makes a claim. In order to prove that the visual claim is right, I have to set up a whole series of similar shots – like a scientist carrying out a series of experiments. Apart from that, I am convinced that it is not enough to make a portrait of just one person if you want to get an idea of the human being. In order to have as comprehensive a picture as possible, you have to make portraits of as many people as possible. The same applies to houses, heavenly bodies, newspaper photos, night shots and so on, right down to sexual fantasies. A single picture is too little, that is why I work in series“.