Wolfgang Tillmans’ Manual, selected by Nicholas Gottlund

Artist: Wolfgang Tillmans
Title: Manual
Publisher: Verlag der Buchandlung Walter König
Year: 2007
BUY

There is much that could be written about this book, but I feel it is best for those interested to find this book and simply read it. I say read it because while there are probably 300 images, the text (from newspapers, advertisements, transcripts and by the artist himself) is worth equal attention. The texts address the social and political current within Tillman’s work that is often relegated to the footnotes. I could be wrong, and perhaps not dug deep enough myself.

In truth, I have been deeply influenced by this book on a formal level, both as a book maker and as an artist. It has a peculiar sense of graphic design ( for example the typography and the use of two different coloured endpapers). It is heavy, and therefore I often use it as a weight in the studio. It brings together two great loves of mine; photography and printing. It does not try to coalesce these facets, or meld them into a homogeneous unit, but rather it allows them to sit side by side, to touch and to overlap in a most profound and beautiful way.