Wolfgang Tillmans' 'staged observational' style is strangely unsettling. The German former Turner Prize winner mixes mock and real scenes, frequently turning his camera on himself and his friends, and often incorporating imperfections in his work like overexposure and grit in his lens to intriguing effect.
Now Taschen is bringing us a triple dose of his compelling body of work in a new box set. Incorporating important titles including 'Wolfgang Tillmans', 'Burg' and 'Truth Study Centre', it offers a narrative of his career, spanning from his early years as a photojournalist capturing Europe's club culture to his more abstract landscape and still-life images in the last decade.
Tillmans was the first ever photographer to win the Turner Prize, when he scooped the accolade in 2000. Speaking about his career, he once said: 'I became a photographer before I even noticed.' This sense of ease and fluidity pervades his work - with all its high colour and dirty 'realism' - as seen by a flick through these three volumes.
An image from the book 'Wolfgang Tillmans': Christian, Hamburg, 1991
An image from 'Wolfgang Tillmans':
Alex & Lutz, Bournemouth, 1992
An image from 'Wolfgang Tillmans':
Bournemouth, 1992
An image from 'Wolfgang Tillmans':
Moby, London, 1993
An image from 'Wolfgang Tillmans':
Lola & Megan, New York, 1993
An image from 'Wolfgang Tillmans':
Thuy in Make-Up Room, New York, 1993
An image from 'Tillmans Burg':
Me in the shower, 1990
An image from 'Tillmans Burg':
Summer still life, 1995
An image from 'Tillmans Burg':
Still life, yellow tomatoes, 1995
An image from 'Tillmans Burg':
Arkadia I, 1996
An image from 'Tillmans Burg':
Concorde L 432 – 6, 1997
An image from 'Tillmans Burg':
'I didn't Inhale', Chisenhale Gallery 7/6-3/8/1997 North Wall
An image from ’truth study center’:
Sommer, 2004
An image from 'truth study center':
We summer, 2004
An image from 'truth study center':
Fische, 2001
An image from 'truth study center':
Venus transit, 2004
An image from 'truth study center':
Genom, 2002
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