Like Ruff, Gursky heavily manipulates photographic images through digital processes to create works that blur the boundary between photography and abstraction, producing large scale prints with a conceptual and experimental sensibility.

Tillmans consistently pushes the boundaries of contemporary photography through experimental darkroom and digital techniques, creating abstract photographic works that challenge conventional image making in ways closely aligned with Ruff's Substrat series.

Richter's photo based abstract works explore the intersection of mechanical reproduction and painterly abstraction, sharing with Ruff's Substrat series a deep interest in how digital and photographic processes can generate purely abstract visual experiences.