Thomas Ruff: press++

The press++ series is based on a collection of original photographs published in American newspapers and magazines between the 1920s and 1970s. Ruff scanned the front and back of each print and digitally combined the two sides into a single composite image. Interested equally in the subject matter (and any touch-ups) on the front of the photographic paper and the words, stamps, signatures, and smudges on the back, he has created montages of image and text, in the process compromising the integrity of the former as well as adding relevant context. As layers of information coexist seamlessly, the idea of an original source becomes increasingly obsolete. The series recalls Ruff’s earlier Zeitungsfotos (Newspaper Photographs) from 1990–1991, in which newspaper cuttings were rephotographed without any context. While these earlier works drew attention to the precarious nature of photographic meaning in general, the press++ series explores how the image is but one of several elements within a complex process of how visual information is perceived.