For the first time, the complete series of Thomas Ruff's Portraits in one book: all 189 portraits. Ruff began the series in 1981 as a student of Bernd and Hilla Becher in Düsseldorf. He photographed friends and fellow students head-on, expressionless, against a plain background, like passport photos. It became his breakthrough work and one of the most important bodies of work from the Düsseldorf School. The book includes an in-depth interview between Thomas Ruff and Hans Ulrich Obrist, in German and English.