Wolfgang Tillmans is one of the most popular, influential, and widely discussed contemporary photographers. Tillmans was born in Remscheid, Germany, but has spent most of his working life in London. His comprehensive and diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. He is celebrated for the disconcerting range of his subject matter, which includes portraits, still lifes, landscapes, pure abstractions, documents of youth culture, and what appears to be random snapshots. Politics, sex, beauty, and squalor float in and out of his pictures, creating an ambiguous tone that feels altogether contemporary.
In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer and also the first non-English artist to be awarded the Turner Prize. In 2009, he was awarded the Kulturpreis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Photographie (The Culture Prize of the German Society for Photography).
