Recognising strangeness in familiar objects, the present in the past, the construed in what is authentic – the four masterly photographers show excerpts from our world in which the boundary between reality and imagination becomes blurred. From fleeting everyday scenes to mysterious happenings and historical events, they reveal a complex and multi-layered reality.

Thomas Demand, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall use the proximity to reality and the momentary nature of photography in order to create their idiosyncratic viewpoints of reality. What is real? They play with the viewers’ perceptions, irritate and invite them to an individual interpretation of what is shown. This exclusive volume presents the works of the stars of the contemporary international photography scene magnificently and in clearly narrated texts.