Mountains
Harlem Church, New York, 1964
Cinque Terre
42nd Street, New York, 1964
Mountains
The Quays, Dublin, 1966
Forest
Arteries, New York, 1964
Mountains
Santo Domingo, New York, 1964
Mountains
Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966
Mountains
8th Street, Washington, 1965
Northern Lights
Springtime, Washington, 1965

Evelyn Hofer

About

Evelyn Hofer was born in Germany in 1922 and died in Mexico City in 2009, leaving a legacy as “the most famous unknown photographer in America.” She was dubbed this title based on her work referencing the traditional style of August Sander, a famous portrait photographer, and William Eggleston, the pioneer of color film photography. One of the reasons her work is so successful is that she studied the practices of technical imagery and the chemicals used in these processes. She was one of the first photographers to adopt color film and dye transfer as a regular printing practice. Another reason her work is so successful is her technique of slowing the world down and having patience with it. She would photograph her subjects in their environment but took time to examine the conditions of the surrounding environment so the final image was precisely as she wished.

I don’t like to spy on people. I want them to know I’m taking their picture and want them to collaborate with me. If they felt I was trying to get something out of them which they wouldn’t like, it would be impossible. So I respect them and I want them to respect what we are doing together.

—Evelyn Hofer

Throughout Hofer’s career, she adopted two photography styles, both somewhat famous today. Her portrait photography is renowned for the images themselves and her methods in creating them. Hofer used a medium-format camera, which is best used on a tripod. Her portraits take on the idea of “street photography,” but there is nothing spontaneous about her images. She would plan her pictures to capture her subjects’ authentic selves through gestures and characteristics. Her other famous body of work was her architecture photography. Writer Mary McCarthy commissioned Hofer to provide imagery for Florence, Italy’s historical and cultural literature. Her architectural imagery is thought to resemble Renaissance paintings due to her precise control over the perspectives of the buildings she is photographing.

Mountains
Haughwout Building, New York, 1965
Blackfriars Station, London, 1962
Forest
Broadway at Times Square, 1964
Mountains
Chauffers, Washington, DC, 1965
Mountains
Badia di Fiesole, Florence, 1958
Mountains
Waitress, Garrick Club, London, 1962

The first time I learned about Evelyn Hofer was an exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta, GA. Her images enraptured me. As I read more about her throughout the exhibit, I grew to have a tremendous amount of respect for her. The exhibit showed examples of her notes that she would take throughout her visitations to a singular place. To take one image, she would go to the same place throughout a week or more to know exactly what time of day and weather she wanted for a single image. I have learned from her the art of taking notes while taking photographs. Even recently, I used this method to help me take a photo, thinking about when I should revisit a location to take a picture just how I envisioned.