Snapshots of a cultural era

British youth

Born in the industrial town of Remscheid, Tillmans moved to Hamburg in 1987 at the age of 19. Then, enthralled by British youth culture, he moved to Bournemouth to study art in 1990.

Not autobiographical

Tillmans was initially known for his sometimes snapshot-like portraits of friends and other young people in his immediate surroundings. His photos – from the Europride in London (1992) or the Love Parade in Berlin (1992), for example – appeared in several cutting-edge magazines and established his reputation as a prominent witness of a contemporary social movement.

“It was never my intention to be seen as diaristic or autobiographical. I was not recording the world around me or my tribe or whatever. There is a big misunderstanding there that still persists to this day.” — Source: Wikipedia

The constant question is, ‘Can I make a picture of this? Can I make something new?’ And sometimes I fail, but I can handle the failures. I even show them sometimes Wolfgang Tillmans In an interview with The Guardian last year