Ralph Goertz

Made for the retrospective of the same title at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, the film traces the Cuban-American painter’s artistic journey from Havana to New York and Paris.

The American photographer Stephen Shore is internationally best known as one of the leaders of the 'New Color Photography' movement in the US in the 1960s and 70s. This film starts with his early Warhol photographs Shore made during his school time in the 60s. After he did start shooting in black & white, Shore did start shooting in color with his 'Mick-a-Matic camera' and his 35mm camera. It ended up with his famous series 'American Surfaces' and - after changing his format into 8x10 - he created his 'Uncommon Places'.

This film takes us into the studio of one of the best-known photographers in Germany, Thomas Ruff. Filmed over a period of two years, Ralph Goertz’s documentary shows a range of the artist’s multi-faceted body of work, including his new ma.r.s. series, involving manipulated images of the planet Mars taken by a satellite camera. Ruff studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under the photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, which influenced his interest in serial photography. His work has ranged from small-scale documentary-style photographs of domestic interiors, to large-scale passport-like portraits with monochrome backgrounds, to architectural photographs.