The invention relates to an illumination apparatus (100), especially for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one laser light source (10); a wavelength conversion element (20) that is designed to receive excitation light from the at least one laser light source (10); and a reflector (30) having at least one reflector body (30′), which at least one reflector body (30′) comprises a reflecting surface (31), which reflecting surface (31) reflects the light emitted by the wave-length conversion element (20) in the visible wavelength range, wherein the reflector (30), at its reflector surface (30a) bearing the reflecting surface (31), is provided with the reflecting surface (31), wherein the reflector surface (30a) has at least one region (30a′, 30a″) that is free of the reflecting surface (31), and wherein the reflector surface (30a), at least in the region (30a′, 30a″) that is free of the reflecting surface (31), is embodied such that at least some of the excitation light incident in the region (30a′, 30a″) is absorbed.