Born in the town of Zell am Harmersbach in 1958, the photographer is regarded as one of the most important artists of his generation and a leading representative of the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Thomas Ruff’s reputation in the art world is based not least on his highly concrete examination and dissection of visual conventions. In his monumental photo series of everyday objects and interiors as well as processed images from magazines, archives, newspapers and collections, he interrogates the claim that these traditional genres of depiction in some way represent »the truth«.

As a student of Bernd and Hilla Becher in the early 1980s, Ruff already attracted attention in the art scene with his photo series »Portraits« and »Interiors«, in particular for his somewhat cold and distanced style of shooting and lighting with which he captured seemingly ordinary lives and objects in a clear visual language. This was followed by such groundbreaking series as »Stars«, in which the photographer used negatives from the archives of the European Southern Observatory, and »Cassini«, created by processing images of space taken by NASA; or the series of digital »jpges«, blown up to a large-scale format, which are a complete departure from his early hyper-realistic style; in »jpges«, the images are dissected into individual pixels as if viewed through a burning glass. 

Thomas Ruff followed in the footsteps of Bernd and Hilla Becher as professor of photography at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, a post he held from 2000 to 2006, during which time the Düsseldorf School became a recognised category in the field of photographic art. The multiple award-winning photographer, whose work is displayed in countless international exhibitions and highly esteemed galleries worldwide, now lives and works in Düsseldorf. 

The choice of Thomas Ruff as collaborating artist to supply the visual motifs for the 2021/22 series of premieres is not least due to the inner unity of his photographic cycles, even when these groups of images are themselves incredibly heterogeneous. The Semperoper has been able to borrow a suitable motif for its premiere portfolio from each of his creative phases. We are particularly pleased and grateful to be able to use the work of this extraordinary artist in designing the new premiere poster series for the 2021/22 season, thus once again harmonising the fields of music theatre, dance and visual art at the highest level.