Negative, press++, Portrait, 2024

From FACES
Three digital pigment prints on Hahnemühle 300g rag paper, hand-torn, each 60 x 50 cm. Edition of 45 + 8 AP, each signed on label verso and numbered on the prints themselves.

Each EUR 1,800
Triptych EUR 5,000

These three print editions by Thomas Ruff each stem from distinct bodies of work, offering a visual dialogue on the evolving history of photographic portraiture. The selection reflects Ruff’s enduring interest in how identity is constructed, mediated, and perceived through the camera lens. On the left, a negative-style portrait references early ethnographic or studio portrait photography, inviting a critical look at colonial image-making and its aesthetic codes. The central image, based on a manipulated archival photo, blends analog texture with digital intervention – underscoring Ruff’s engagement with found imagery and the layering of meaning over time. The rightmost portrait, starkly contemporary in style and clarity, belongs to Ruff’s signature series of head-on color portraits, known for their neutral expressions and clinical precision. Together, these works span different eras, techniques, and contexts, showcasing Ruff’s conceptual approach and his deep exploration of photography as both document and construction.