1410, 2005

The print edition 1410 is part of Thomas Ruff’s Machines series, a collection of works created using digitized glass negatives from the 1930s. Originally produced for an industrial catalog by the Düsseldorf-based firm Rohde & Dörrenberg, the images documented machine parts with precision and clarity. Ruff reworked these archival photographs –digitally enhancing and recoloring specific areas to highlight the manual retouching techniques once used in analog printing. The result is a subtle layering of past and present image-making processes. Echoing the typological approach of his former mentors, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Ruff turns these utilitarian images into complex reflections on perception, reproduction, and the visual language of industry.