An Interview with Thomas Ruff

One of Germany’s greatest photographers, Thomas Ruff, was in Budapest last week as the preparations for his new exhibition got underway at Műcsarnok. Talking to us, he shed light on the inspiration between his giant artworks which are an encyclopaedic encapsulation of today’s photography; his subjects extending from portraits to galaxies, from the micro to the macrocosm.

Shy and shifting in his chair, Ruff speaks quietly as though he’d spent his whole life shuffling around in an art gallery, speaking in hushed tones. Did he always want to be a photographer? “I wanted to be either an astronomer or a photographer. I considered studying a scientific subject to fuel my passion for astronomy, but I chose the easy option: photography!” But looking around through the diverse topics covered by Ruff, it is clear to see that science infiltrates his work; his star series, consisting of giant prints made from negatives supplied by the European Southern Observatory, suggest that his passion is still there. Yet I look across the room and there are sexually explicit images, Ruff’s acclaimed ‘Nudes’, beautiful and disturbing, spread as brazenly as the subjects’ legs across the wall; his digital enhancements blurring the distinctions between pornography and formalist nude photography.

Ruff is clearly open to a mélange of different topics but most of his work manages a simultaneously scientific and political approach, while still being sensitive to shifts in the approaches of contemporary visual culture. It was during his studies that he developed his method of conceptual serial photography: “I studied photography at the DüsseldorfArtAcademy. My course was five years long but I stayed an additional three as I couldn’t afford my own equipment!” He adds.

Initially, he focused his work on German home interiors, a subject which was later followed by similar views of buildings. After this came a set of portraits, all the subjects looking devoid of emotion and blown up to strikingly huge dimensions. In fact, bar a couple of collections, in this exhibition all of the pictures span several meters in width and length and are as imposing as the credentials of their artist. “I’m always re-sizing,” he smiles. “It’s important for pictures to have a physical presence. You’ve got to work out which size works for each individual picture.” Indeed, the, almost haunting, portrait series consolidates this, each head-and-shoulders shot standing at around three or four times the size of the average person, and each with a vacant glare that makes for rather an unsettling experience for the visitor.

But where does he get his inspiration from in the first instance, a question I’m sure he is always asked? His quick reply confirms this: “Watching TV, reading the newspaper, talking to friends. If something is interesting or upsets me, I have to investigate and I end up working with it.” Although the nudes are probably the most shocking works in his collection, Ruff says his most recent series ‘Zycles’ has been the most enjoyable.

The complex abstract pictures are large format inkjet prints consisting of curved lines.

Surprisingly, the images originated in mathematics, from 19^th century books on electromagnetism that portrayed magnetic fields on copperplates. “I don’t usually have much routine in my work,” he says. “With this series I had to fight the image, it was a real challenge.” How long does it typically take him to complete an image. “It can take a minute or months,” he smiles. “Zycles was more like months.”

You get the impression that his ‘jpeg’ series took considerably less time, but they are no less impressive; with these he took compressed files and enlarged them to the breaking point creating an abstraction in the process. Only when viewed from a distance do the pixels form a clearly recognizable image. The images are exhibited without commentary, context or captions; the images themselves are supposed to be the commentary, quoting and questioning the forms of a digitized world, dominated by world media. Ruff’s style is evidently distinctive yet eclectic, but he will not be drawn into mentioning his favorite artists, or those who have influenced his work:  “There are too many to name,” he says. There must be one that stands out? “No, I cannot pick on. It wouldn’t be fair.”

And when asked how he thinks photography will evolve, he laughs. “I often ask my students that,” he says. “And they can’t answer!” But he pauses thoughtfully for a few moments.

“Every generation has to develop images reflecting their years in the world. There will definitely be something new. I’m not a young artist. It is a world of young artists now.”

And the future? “Oh I have no real hopes for the future,” he says. “Apart from the work to stay fun and fascinating. I really do enjoy every day that I work.”