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Details
Various artists (Ludger Gerdes 1954-2008, Candida Hofer b.1944, Daniel Poensgen, Thomas Ruff b.1958 & Thomas Struth b.1954)
Foto/Realismen: ars viva 87/88, 1987-1988
portfolio of three chromogenic and two gelatin silver prints, each affixed on board
portfolio numbered '26/40' in ink (title page) and each print signed and numbered '26/40' in either ink or pencil and some dated either recto or verso
each image approximately: 20 x 28cm. (7⅝ x 11¾in.)
each sheet approximately: 24.1 x 30.5cm. (9½ x 12in.)
This portfolio is number 26 from an edition of 30.

Specialist Notes:

One of Thomas Ruff’s most consistent subjects in his work has been the portrait. Commencing in the early 1980s, he wanted to make a portrait of his generation which would reveal as little as possible about the sitter. This was a reaction to the rise of the culture of surveillance that he saw taking place in society at that time. Using an even light and simple stock backgrounds that were chosen by the sitter, these closely cropped images are intended to be as neutral as possible to emphasize the face of the sitter, but also the role of the photograph in portraying this. Ruff ultimately wanted to remove emotion or nostalgia from the image so that the viewer felt face to face with a photograph, not a person.
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