Thomas Ruff awarded with the 2nd International Lishui Photography Award

Thomas Ruff: A Mindmap on Photography – Lishui Photography Museum

The International Photography Lishui Award, established by the Lishui Photography Museum in 2023, is an international academic prize. The inaugural honoree as the renowned American photographer Stephen Shore, in October 2025 the organizers formally announced Thomas Ruff as the 2nd laureate.

A jury of nine senior experts from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Japan unanimously recognized Thomas Ruff's exceptional contributions to contemporary photography. According to the jury, Ruff has persistently conducted philosophical inquiries and systematic analysis of the medium of photography throughout his career spanning more than forty year and has constantly challenged the boundaries of photography, delving deeply into the image-making mechanisms, technical properties, and ways of seeing images. Through his continuous experimental practice, he has offered invaluable methodological insights to contemporary image practice worldwide.

At the invitation of the Lishui Photography Museum, Thomas Ruff will visit Lishui in November 2025 and give a lecture and thematic seminars as part of the Lishui Photography Festival and provide an insight into his extensive work with the exhibition “Thomas Ruff. A Mindmap on Photogrpahy”. The award ceremony and opening of the exhibition will take place on November 8th, 2025 at the Lishui Photography Culture Center.

Thomas Ruff, tableau chinois_04, 2019