Evelyn Hofer

Serene exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery looking at the career of Evelyn Hofner.

I’d not consciously come across Hofner’s work before but I loved her clear cool vision.

Having fled Germany in 1933 aged 11 with her family, she settled in Mexico before moving to New York in 1946 to work as an editorial photographer on magazines. She was then commissioned to take photographs for a book “The Stones of Venice” by Mary McCarthy and moved into this type of documentary work.

I loved her black and white photos of City life in New York, Washington, Dublin and London. Unlike other contemporary street photographers she didn’t catch a moment but worked with her subjects to produce insightful portraits. Some of the pictures, like this one of two Dublin maids, seemed to hint at a short story.

I also liked her pictures of empty interiors which seemed to include the shadows of the people who had been there.

Closed 24 September 2023


Review

Guardian


 

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