Candida Höfer

Candida Höfer is renowned for her meticulously composed, large-scale color images of architectural interiors. Her body of work delves into the structure, presentation, and impact of space. Höfer is particularly interested in the psychological aspects of design and the contrast between a room's intended purpose and its actual use.

Biography of Candida Höfer

Candida Höfer, born in Germany in 1944, attended the Kunstacademie Düsseldorf from 1973 to 1982. During her time there, she studied film with the Danish filmmaker Ole John and photography under the influential photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher. Notably, Bernd and Hilla Becher also taught other renowned Düsseldorf School photographers like Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Elger Esser, Axel Hütte, and Thomas Ruff.

Höfer's internationally recognized work has been featured in solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Kunsthalle in Basel and Berne, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Louvre in Paris, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Museo Amparo in Mexico, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, and the Kunstmuseum Luzern in Switzerland. Additionally, her work has been part of group exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Power Plant in Toronto, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, Rollins Museum of Art, and Documenta XI in Kassel.

The artist also represented Germany at the 2003 Venice Biennale. In 2018, Candida Höfer was honored by the Sony World Photography Awards for her significant contribution to photography. Her photographs are held in major public and private collections worldwide.

She currently resides and works in Cologne, Germany.

Candida Höfer's Art Style

Höfer's photographic focus has centered on cultural and institutional buildings such as libraries, hotels, museums, concert halls, and palaces. In her images, devoid of people, viewers are invited to contemplate the significance of the absent inhabitants. The large-scale format of her work encourages viewers to closely examine architectural details and contemplate the variations in light that make up the character of each space.

Similar to her mentors, who were masters in black-and-white photography, Höfer initially avoided using color. One of her early works, "Flipper" (1973), consists of a large photo collage comprising 47 gelatin silver prints depicting pinball machines, some with players and others isolated in arcades and pubs. However, her transition to using color came about when she worked on her "Türken in Deutschland" (Turks in Germany) series (1973–1979), which documented the lives of Turkish migrant families in their new German homes. She found that color was more appropriate for this subject matter than monochrome.

Through her experiences working with migrants, Höfer developed an interest in how people shape and interact with their surroundings and how this impacts their lives. Consequently, her focus shifted from people to public spaces, particularly the expansive interiors of cultural and institutional buildings. Many of her large-scale color photographs have been captured in European and North American cities such as Düsseldorf, Naples, Venice, Florence, St. Petersburg, and Philadelphia.