Copyright ©
Thomas Ruff
or applicable right holders.
This photograph is part of l.m.v.d.r. series. Based on the initials of renowned 20th century modernist architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe (1886-1969), this series began as a commission offered to Ruff in 1999-2000 in connection with the renovation of Haus Lange and Haus Esters in Krefeld, Germany. Having worked with architectural subject matter since the mid-1980s, Ruff was enlisted to photograph the Krefeld buildings as well as the Barcelona Pavilion and the Villa Tugendhat in Brno. Given the freedom to choose how the buildings would be rendered, Ruff was faced with the challenge of discovering a new way to capture these all-too-familiar and heavily documented monuments.
As in the spirit of Van der Rohe, who emphasized "not the what but the how," Ruff continues a conceptual line of how images are created. Fusing traditional elements with technological innovation, the photographs are both straight film and manipulated digital photography. Perception is of fundamental concern. By maneuvering camera angles and manipulating focus and color, Ruff heightens the reality that these are images of actual and historical sites.
In d.p.b 08, Ruff blurs the photograph and obliterates any true distinction between building and environment, mirroring the architect's ambivalence towards the traditional spatial relationship.
This photograph is part of l.m.v.d.r. series. Based on the initials of renowned 20th century modernist architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe (1886-1969), this series began as a commission offered to Ruff in 1999-2000 in connection with the renovation of Haus Lange and Haus Esters in Krefeld, Germany. Having worked with architectural subject matter since the mid-1980s, Ruff was enlisted to photograph the Krefeld buildings as well as the Barcelona Pavilion and the Villa Tugendhat in Brno. Given the freedom to choose how the buildings would be rendered, Ruff was faced with the challenge of discovering a new way to capture these all-too-familiar and heavily documented monuments.
As in the spirit of Van der Rohe, who emphasized "not the what but the how," Ruff continues a conceptual line of how images are created. Fusing traditional elements with technological innovation, the photographs are both straight film and manipulated digital photography. Perception is of fundamental concern. By maneuvering camera angles and manipulating focus and color, Ruff heightens the reality that these are images of actual and historical sites.
In d.p.b 08, Ruff blurs the photograph and obliterates any true distinction between building and environment, mirroring the architect's ambivalence towards the traditional spatial relationship.