Wolfgang Tillmans
winner of the Cultural Award 2009
of the German Photographic Association (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie - DGPh)

Award Ceremony on 3rd Oct 2009
at the Heidelberger Kunstverein
during the
3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg
'Images Recalled - Bilder auf Abruf'
5 September – 25 October 2009
www.fotofestival.info


The unprettified view of an observer
Have you ever asked yourself who has pre-structured your perspective from which you view the images in this world? Who creates the visual alphabet of fashion?

On 3rd October 2009, in Berlin/London living photographer Wolfgang Tillmans (born 1968 in Germany) will receive the Cultural Award 2009 of the German Photographic Association at the Heidelberger Kunstverein during the 3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg. Wolfgang Tillmans, who became worldwide successful with direct photography of street fashion and gay subculture in the early 90s, is already awarded with the Turner Prize (2000, London). The 'imperfection' of his photographs, the unprettified view of an observer of reality - such as a photo reporter - became an important style for the presentation of fashion which are documented by works for i-D, Vogue...

fig.: Portrait Wolfgang Tillmans. (C) Henry Linser.

Because of this reason, Wolfgang Tillmans' oeuvre fits perfectly into this year's Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg which questions how photographs order and structure our view of the world.

"In the same way that the use of photography in the context of journalism and art has changed, so has the event itself. Its main focus this year lies in the areas of modern art and new media."
3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg

The Cultural Award of the German Photographic Association (founded 1958) was given to Man Ray (1966), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1967), Karl Lagerfeld (1996), David Hockney (1997), Prof. F.C. Gundlach (2001) (read the article about the exhibition 'The Voters favor or The revenge of the Sovereign' fashionoffice.org/foto/2009/fcgundlach7-2009.htm), Wim Wenders (2003), and Ed Ruscha (2006), to name a few.

The first book with his editorial photography for magazines like i-D, Spex, Interview, SZ-Magazin and Butt, as well as independent work was published in 1995 by Taschen. Today, you can find more than 20 art books, monographs and catalogues on his website.

Since 1988, Wolfgang Tillmans exhibits around the world such as at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles (Wolfgang Tillmans in conversation with Mark Wigley on youtube.com/watch?v=XhDUbEt-pGg), Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin etc. In the last years, Wolfgang Tillmans began to work on new forms of presenting photography as a tactile experience. On Wolfgang Tillmans' website, he publishes installation views www.tillmans.co.uk.

Video: 'Lovely head' by Goldfrapp, directed by Wolfgang Tillmans in 2000. The photographer lists two music videos on his website; the second is 'Home and Dry' by the Pet Shop Boys, 2002.


more foto>>>