Thanks to My Modern Met, here’s a late addition to the roundup readable art that we posted over the weekend: the lovely text portraits of German photographer Ralph Ueltzhoeffer. Using biographical information about his subjects that’s readily available thanks to the Internet and sites like Wikipedia, he layers white typeface on a black background to recreate their likenesses — a visual nod at the old school DOS input mode. Click through to check out a selection of his surprisingly-detailed (and readable!) portraits of cultural icons like Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei, and David Bowie.
Patti Smith. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Andy Warhol. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Ai Weiwei. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
John Lennon. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Kurt Cobain. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Bob Dylan. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Louise Bourgeois. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Jimi Hendrix. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Michael Jackson. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Pablo Picasso. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Mick Jagger. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Robert Mapplethorpe. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
David Bowie. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Jeff Wall. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer
Ian Curtis. Image credit: Ralph Ueltzhoeffer