Since the early 1990s, Wolfgang Tillmans has pushed the boundaries of the photographic medium. Challenging the indexical nature traditionally associated with photography, his abstract and representational photographic bodies of work each in their own way put forward the notion of the photograph as object—rather than as a record of reality. While achieving his breakthrough with portraits and lifestyle photographs, documenting celebrity culture as well as LGBTQ communities and club culture, since the turn of the millennium the German photographer has notably created abstract work such as the Freischwimmer series, which is made in the darkroom without a camera.
Seamlessly integrating genres, subject matters, techniques and exhibition strategies, Tillmans is known for photographs that pair playfulness and intimacy with a persistent questioning of dominant value and hierarchy structures of our image-saturated world. In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer to receive the prestigious Turner Prize.
1993 Chromogenic print, printed 2008. 24 1/8 x 20 in. (61.3 x 50.8 cm) Signed, titled, numbered, inscribed and dated 'Wolfgang Tillmans, group on Chelsea staircase, 1/3 + 1, photo 11/1993, print WT 12/2008' on the reverse. Photographed in 1993 and printed in 2008, this work is number one from an edition of three plus one artist's proof.
