Abstract Pictures

Abstract Pictures is a monograph that compiles Wolfgang Tillmans' non-representational, abstract photographic work over two decades.

The book showcases series like Blushes, Freischwimmer, and Lighter, exploring the possibilities of the photographic medium through techniques like camera-less exposures, darkroom manipulation, and sculptural paper forms. It contains essays by Dominic Eichler and excerpts from Tillmans' own notes, interviews, and lectures.

Designed by Tillmans and Karl Kolbitz, the book emphasizes the materiality of the photographic object itself, rather than its reproductive function. Includes unique, hand-assembled sections with layered images created during the printing process. The photograph itself—essentially divorced from its reproductive function—becomes the objet d'art. Received the German Photo Book Award in Silver, 2012. Available in English and German. Published in Ostfildern, Germany.