He created and exhibited large scale portrait photographs in 1986-90 at the Saatchi Gallery. http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/thomas_ruff.htm
The scales of his images were 210x165cm and 200x150cm. His images were passport style, of just head and shoulders of people, so printed at this size they are larger than life size.
They would be attention grabbing and intriguing the the viewer, there is no way that they could be ignored.
This is how I want my images to be, not able to be ignored. However, I think that the sizing of Ruff's work is a little too big and if my images were printed that size it would be difficult to see the image as a whole.
'French theorist Roland Barthes, in his book Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography (1982), suggests that it is possible for a photograph to convey deep emotion, and that there is a moment when the subject of a photograph makes a direct link with the emotions of the viewer through the surface of the image.' http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/thomas-ruff/thomas-ruff-portraits
This quote also links to my work because I am hoping that the children in my photographs will make a direct link with the emotions of the viewer. I hope that they will speak through the image, and I am just acting as a facilitator to allow that link of emotions to happen. I feel that by using the children's name and age as the title for each image, this will strengthen the link because will know a little more information about that child.
