Are we allowed to call them photographs?

He may have been the first to be awarded the Turner Prize for photography, but don’t mistake Wolfgang Tillmans for a photographer: He prefers to be recognized as an artist who uses the camera. His work -- including fashion spreads for lifestyle magazines and abstracted installations for venues like the Tate Modern -- is interested in revealing intimate details of people and places he encounters while pooh-poohing photographic convention. In the first major U.S. retrospective, the exhibition at the Hammer features about 300 photographs, installation and videos spanning since his career began in the 1990s. On the day of the opening, Tillmans talks with architecture scholar Mark Wigley at 4 p.m.

“Wolfgang Tillmans,” Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Opens Sunday. Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays ; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Ends Jan. 7. $3 to $5; 17 and younger, free. (310) 443-7020.