Evelyn Hofer’s exhibition opened at The Photogrpaher’s Gallery in Soho, London this week. It is a retrsopective collection of her most iconic work and it runs until the 24th of September. Also, this week I’m trying something different for you comrades, listing X number of things that I learn about the life and work of photographers that I find to be bad-asse. So let me know what you think of this idea and if it’s something that interest you as a reader.
Variety.
Evelyn Hofer is one those phoptographers that you’ve definitely seen or come across her work but can’t really put a name to it partly becuse her work is so varied that it doesn’t fit in any tags that we’re so used to these days (Street Photographer or Fashion Photographer).
Her work was so varied stretching out to so many different subjects, from documentary and street, to still life and fashion and not limited to architectural and portraiture. Always with a sense of a timeless stillness.
Her work has taught me to keep my eye and mind open to different subjects that interest me but it mostly it amazes me how masterfully she solved each of these subjects in a very unique and characterstic style which leads to my next point.
Consistency.
The first thought that comes to your mind when you look at her work is “wow, how beautiful that is, but why?” And this happens picture after picture. She was incredibly consistent in her aesthetic choices and in the way she built her photograpsh. This didn’t happen by chance, luck or decisive moments.
Digging into her work, I’ve learned a few things about her creative process like visiting scenes constantly and taking notes for when the light was right, building her scenes in the spot when she found an interesting setting with a 4x5 studio camera, her meticulous order and strict perfectionism. Practices like these build consistency in our work as opposed to the “that would do” attitude that seems to be present everywhere these days.
It’s OK to be obssesive.
It looks like Evelyn lived for her work. Elisabeth Biondi, a visual editor of The Newyorker describes in an interview how strict she was with her craft. Likewise, in the exhibition there’s a piece on how private Evelyn was with her personal life and only one partner was know to her but everyone around her said how she lived for her work.
I mention this because many times, and more often that I’d like I consider where would my work take me if I dedicate my whole self to it. There’s always “life” getting in the way between photography and me: friends, wife, commitments, chums… It brings me peace to think that on a paralel dimension I’m fully immersed in art and photograpy.
Rejection is fine.
I’m always inpsired by stories of success that come from rejection. Evelyn in her early years wanted to be a pianist but got rejected from the music academy so instead she went on to learn about photography on a commercial studio. This is so important to me bacuse I believe that real life work experience is fundamental to whatever we want to do in the future. Also, there seems to be something in the minds of Germans and Austrians that have insane levels of will power against adversity. Have you seen the Arnold documentary on Netflix?
Methodology.
Another thing that inspires me from her work is actually the way she worked her street portraits and urban scenes: Evelyn always photographed with the already mentioned 4x5 medium format camera. Now, this piece of equipment was usually found on portrait studios, it wasn’t portable, light, practical or compact. Photographers working with this equipment refer to it as “slow photography” it requires a great level of concentration and technical abilities while keeping your subjects engaged. Looking at ther street portraits, it’s definitely a talent to do what she did with this piece of gear.
It’s her subjects making the photograph while she’s behind the camera immersed in all the technical abilities. She said she liked to respect her subjects and not be spying on them, instead collaborate on what they were doing together and be respectful of each other.
Collaborate.
The most important lesson for me is to be collaborative with other creatives who share my interests and vision. I’m a very introverted person, I prefer to work alone, I get awkward around people I don’t know and when it comes to work I prefer to hear what others have to say before I present my own ideas not to come across as an arrogant, dominant prick. But there is an advantage of collaborating and building relations with other artists like Evelyn did with writers, editors and artists which leads to my next point.
Learn to see in order to evolve.
Evelyn spent some time hanging out with artists (mostly painters) who she claims taught her to see. I can not stress how important this is for us as photographers since we are programmed to see the world in a photographic way, also, we usually tend to get stuck in our own practices and our work becomes stale or we get a feeling of being stuck. Learning different points of view outside our own will help us and our work evolve.
Find the beauty on everything.
I constantly have to explain to clients and peers that my work comes from an appreciation of the beauty of the things that I see and interest me. I try to focus on the aesthetic elements of what gets my attanetion and then I try to translate that into a photograph. I succeed on this a lot less that I’d like to but that’s OK. My point is that Evelyn work has taught me to fall in love with the beauty of the world I live in and I photograph. I understand her work because I see the world in a very similar way. I like empty spaces, architectural details, street portraits with a purpose and intention, respect for the subjects we photograph…
Links to articles on Evelyn Hofer:
The Independent Photo: https://independent-photo.com/news/evelyn-hofer/
Antiques and the Arts Weekly: https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/evelyn-hofer-eyes-on-the-city/
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/11/evelyn-hofer-photographers-gallery-london-a-total-perfectionist
The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/in-focus-evelyn-hofer-a-lifetime-of-perfection
Danziger Gallery: https://www.danzigergallery.com/artists/evelyn-hofer
Thanks for reading.
from my point of view, you are wrong. let me explain. you said you're an introvert and you prefer to know my ideas first and then put yours on the table. you expect me (and others) to let you know about this kind of article. why? why do you need my approval, why do you need me to tel you to keep going (btw, great job, keep going. seriously!)?
i think you should do whatever you want to do, whatever you feel like doing without anybody's approval. you started this type of article/review without asking nobody's permission, because you felt like it. don't doubt yourself, keep going no matter what. and do what you want without public's approval.
Very interesting insight. Thanks a lot for this!