Thomas Ruff has always had a fascination with astronomy. His attempt at photographing the night sky failed due to the lack of detail captured in the pictures taken. Ruff's equipment could not render the detail he wanted as well as air and light pollution added to the difficulties of capturing the beautiful constellations. Ruff's solution was to take observation shots from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) based in the Andes in Chile.
Ruff talked briefly about STERNE in a 1993 interview with Philip Pocock:
Pocock: Why stars? Do they mean something extra special to you?
Ruff: When I was eighteen I had to decide whether to become an astronomer or a photographer. I also wanted to move the so-called künstlerische Fotografie boundary. Do you know Flusser?
Pocock: No.
Ruff: He defines isolated categories for photography that sometimes cross over. For example, if medical photography is used in a Show More