“Through the Lens of Candida Höfer,” interview profile courtesy AsiaAlter

In Lost Places: Sites of photography at Hamberger Kunsthalle in Germany (through September 23, 2012), 20 innovative contemporary photographers respond to the question: ”What happens to real places if a space loses its usual significance and can be experienced on a virtual plane?”

These artists, many who came out of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s renowned Dusseldorf School of Photography, which championed the de-emphasis of the perspective of the photographer and focus on the object’s command over the frame, present the documentation of landscape at a time when traditional notions of “space” and “place,” for better or worse, are rapidly changing.

Artist included in the exhibition are: Thomas Demand (b. 1964), Omer Fast (b. 1972), Beate Gütschow (b. 1970), Andreas Gursky (b. 1955), Candida Höfer (b. 1944), Sabine Hornig (b. 1964), Jan Köchermann (b. 1967), Barbara Probst (b. 1964), Alexandra Ranner (b. 1967), Ben Rivers (b. 1972), Thomas Ruff (b. 1958), Gregor Schneider (b. 1969), Sarah Schönfeld (b. 1979), Joel Sternfeld (b. 1944), Thomas Struth (b. 1954), Guy Tillim (b. 1962), Jörn Vanhöfen (b. 1961), Jeff Wall (b. 1946) and Tobias Zielony (b. 1973).

Gursky, Höfer, Ruff, Struth, and Wall were all featured in Stefan Gronert’s large-format volume The Dusseldorf School of Photography (Aperture 2010). In the fascinating video series “Contacts: The Renewal of Contemporary Photography,” Gursky and Wall describe the methodology behind their work.

In 2005, Aperture also published Höfer’s monograph Architecture of Absence, which features her meticulously composed images of public spaces marked with the richness of human activity, yet largely devoid of human presence.

Gütschow, “who constructs cityscapes and landscapers that are reminiscent of well-known places, but that do not allow any true reference” for her photographs in this exhibition, did a monograph with Aperture as well in 2007 called LS/S.

Work by Joel Sternfeld was featured in Aperture issue 192 and 180. Guy Tillim appears in Aperture issue 193.

Lost Places: Sites of Photography
Exhibition on view:
June 8 – September 23, 2012

Hamberger Kunsthalle
GlockengieBerwall 20095
Hamburg, Germany
+49 (0) 40-428-131-200

On the occasion of Aperture’s release of The Düsseldorf School of Photography, a comprehensive assessment of the influential photography movement, Aperture and the photography department in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design presented artist Thomas Ruff and writer, former picture editor, Philip Gefter, on February 12th at Aperture Gallery and Bookstore.

The artist’s talk focuses on Ruff’s early work and participation in the Düsseldorf School as well as his more recent work including images featured in the artist’s JPEGS monograph.

In this clip, Thomas Ruff goes through several key bodies of work following his professor Bernd Becher’s advice to always reflect on the photographic medium. Ruff speaks about his Portrait series which he started at the Düsseldorf Academy and explains how large scale has emancipated photography on the contemporary art scene in the 1980′s. Ruff also touches on the matter of objectivity versus subjectivity as well as on the notion of authorship with his Stars series. Finally when speaking of Jpegs, he focuses on the structure of images he finds on the internet and their distribution. By enlarging them, Ruff also plays with the perception of these images when the pixel patterns become sublime geometric displays of color.

To watch the full talk click here:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Copyright Thomas Ruff

Aperture Presents: An Exclusive Conversation Between Thomas Ruff and Philip Gefter

Aperture and the photography department in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design will be presenting an exclusive conversation between artist Thomas Ruff and writer, former picture editor, and author of Photography After Frank, Philip Gefter, on Friday, February 12th, 2010.

The event will in-part celebrate Aperture’s publication of Thomas Ruff’s monograph JPEGS as well as the release of Aperture’s The Dusseldorf School of Photography, a survey of the influential photography movement that includes Ruff’s work.

The conversation will focus on Ruff’s relationship to his JPEGS series and his newest work in two series: zycles and cassini on view at David Zwirner Gallery. There will be a book signing with both speakers following the event.

Thomas Ruff and Philip Gefter in Conversation plus Book Signing
Friday, February 12, 6:30pm

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
New York, New York

Due to limited capacity, this free event is RSVP-only.
Please send name to reserve at: RSVP@aperture.org

View Thomas Ruff’s JPEGS

View Philip Gefter’s Photography After Frank