Wolfgang Tillmans

To me, Tillmans is one of the rare artists who made looking itself feel radical. The fact that he was the first photographer, and first non-British person, to win the Turner Prize still feels like a quiet earthquake in the art world. What I admire most is not the medals, the Hasselblad Award or the Order of Merit, but his restless curiosity about what a photograph even is. He photographs ordinary surroundings yet keeps interrogating the medium's foundations. That balance of intimacy and intellect is exactly why I keep returning to his images, and why I think his influence will outlast every prize.

Name (English)

Wolfgang Tillmans

Name (Japanese)

ヴォルフガング・ティルマンス

Reading

ゔぉるふがんぐ・てぃるまんす

Born

August 16, 1968 (age 58)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Leo / Monkey

Origin

Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Occupation

photographer / printmaker / artist

University

Arts University Bournemouth

Awards & achievements

• 2018 Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Turner Prize
• 2015 Hasselblad Award
• 2017 Berliner Bär
• 2018 Goslarer Kaiserring
• 2015 Royal Photographic Society Award

• Official sitehttps://tillmans.co.uk/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang%20Tillmans
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A9%E3%83%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q704012

Tags

• North Rhine-Westphalia
• photographer
• printmaker
• artist

Last updated

2026-06-24

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.