About the Work
From a safe distance, the night-time observer records the vague outlines of buildings and trees in the memory of his camera. We are not told what is happening at the "scene of the crime". Thomas Ruff, who repeatedly explores the technical aspects of photography, creates his nocturnal images by combining a camera with a night-vision device. Only in this way can the locations be made visible. The result is an aesthetic reminiscent of pictures of the Second Gulf War. Ruff has, since 1992, been zooming in on his motifs until they become blurred, with the intention of making perception remain as imprecise as the photo. What happens or could have happened in Ruff's conceptual photography depends on the observer's visual sense. What emerges are places that look alien - as if from another world.
