»What is man, that you think of him?”«
Already the biblical psalmist asked Yahwe, God, this question full of self-doubt. What is man? This question remains without an answer. The person who asks this question can only try to fathom it himself. »Gnothi seauton« was written on the column of the Apollo Temple in ancient Delphi. »Know thyself«. And one could add: know yourself through the other. Thomas Lüttge pursues exactly this in his work; he has been onto this secret throughout his artistic life. Without bias he looks at the world into which man is born. Thus he approaches and meets the traces of man, perceives him in certain situations, sees him always from the present moment. The photographer’s gaze is always open and true. Thomas Lüttge is not inhibited by preconceived conceptions. He doesn’t conceive an image of man; instead, he stays the one who is seeing, exploring, questioning while taking a photograph. One can follow these questions, this artistic path that sometimes is intricate and mazelike; for sure, it has never been planned, calculated or even pre-set. One can partake in his adventures of gazing, in his insights. Whether in Africa or Asia, in the US or in Europe: beyond all cultural idiosyncrasy, while looking at, immersing yourself with Thomas Lüttge, you get closer to the essence of man. No answers but inklings. For example, in regards to the question of reality. One questions time in the extended, present moments that Thomas Lüttge isolated from the flow of time. Or when looking at an image that turns into a theatrical stage. Inklings, too, since we encounter men in all their vulnerability, exposing their intimacy. Thomas Lüttge or rather his images leave room for the viewers to look at them without prejudices, as he does himself. Then we might find the moments in which we get closer to finding the answer to the question »What is man, that you think of him? «
(Wilhelm Warning)