Dates of Birth 4. February 1944
1. Personal Background
Candida Hoefer grew up in the german town Eberswalde during the second world war. shortly after her birthday, her family moved to Cologne due to the war, where she grew up. Her Dad was a famous Journalist and Critic, who influenced her life, since she came in contact with a lot of artist through him. She got internships at influential photographers when she was 20. After that, she studied at the University of arts in Düsseldorf. Today, she is one of the most influential german photographers.
2. Style
She is famous for taking large format pictures of empty romes. She focuses on almost perfect symetrie. In her pictures she often captures a huge variety of colors, which gives them more appeal. She uses depth, especially with lines, to make the picture look more interesting and to set a focus. She often uses the rule of thirds perfectly, separating the picture horizontal and vertical in perfect lines with the architecture of the building. She calls herself a perfectionist.
3. Philosophy
She got influenced by the famous german photographer couple Bernd and Hilla Becher, who taught her to be politically aware and always have the bigger picture in mind. She started of showing the cultural differences between turks and germans with portraits, later she abandoned the idea of taking portraits of people and started focusing on architecture. She sees her pictures as portraits of architecture in which she wants to express visual relationships within each singular space and the layers of use visible in that space. Hoefer wants to show the presence of the absent by photographing empty rooms. She is trying to make people thinking about their environment and their presents in it.
4. Influences
Her focus on symmetrie also let me take more focus on that. Her usage of let me rethink me approach to taking a picture, where i now am actively looking for a space that involves the rule of thirds rather then noticing it by luck while taking a picture. The huge spread of Colors made me aware of the influence of colors on a picture. Lining up the natural lines given in architecture to create depth in the picture and a point of interest made me using them as well. Taking pictures without persons in it showed me how much that can change a picture and the meaning of a picture.
5. Sources
Palais Garnier Paris XXVIII
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Mason Temple Philadelphia I
http://www.artnet.de/künstler/candida-höfer/mason-temple-philadelphia-i-a-aPLWxoxYa1pUdpiBmWRwOw2
6. Compare and Contrast
KUPFERSTICH-KABINETT DRESDEN III, 2002
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Books
Supreme Court Entry
Committee Meeting Room
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