Candida Höfer

A former student of Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Art Academy Dusseldorf, Candida Höfer is regarded as a representative of the Dusseldorf School of Photography, whose roots lie in the matter-of-fact style of the New Objectivity movement. Along with Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth and Thomas Ruff, she is one of the internationally most recognized German photographers. In 2002, she participated in the Documenta 11 in Kassel and in 2003 she represented her home country at the 50th Venice Biennale. Höfer likes to work in cycles. Höfer is particularly interested in humankind’s social and cultural environments, as reflected in public spaces. She photographs historical as well as modern, technical rooms in archives, libraries, universities or museums. Closer inspection reveals how these spaces, nearly all devoid of any human presence, act as complex organizing systems of Western society. They could be understood almost as a reflection of the collective mind or consciousness. Höfer consciously renounces unusual standpoints and staged compositions. However, her subtle control of lightning confers her works with pictorial qualities and a certain grandeur reminiscent of Old Master paintings.