Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer (January 21, 1922 – November 2, 2009) was a German-American portrait and documentary photographer.

Life and work Hofer was born in Marburg, Germany. The family moved to Geneva in 1933 in order to escape Nazism, and later to Madrid. Evelyn attempted unsuccessfully to enter the Paris Conservatory and then switched to photography, first apprenticing in Zurich and Basel and then taking private tuition in Zürich.

After Franco came to power they moved again, to Mexico in the early 1940s.

Hofer used a four-by-five inch view camera to make orderly and well-constructed portraits and scenic photographs. Her style centered on straightforward compositions that were clear, but not simple. Her portraits show subjects looking lost, sad, or at least ambiguous.

She died in Mexico City, Mexico, aged 87.

Books

Los encantos de Méjico. Text by Maurice Sandoz. The Pleasures of Mexico. Text by Maurice Sandoz. New York: Kamin, 1957. The Stones of Florence. Text by Mary McCarthy. London: Heinemann, 1956. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1959. London: Heinemann, 1976. . San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987. . Florenz. Text by Mary McCarthy. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 1960. London Perceived. Text by V. S. Pritchett. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962. London: Chatto & Windus / Heinemann, 1962. London: Hogarth, 1986. . Boston: Godine, 1990. . London: Penguin, 2003. . London: Bloomsbury, 2011. . Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Exhibitions Hofer has been the subject of numerous exhibitions including ones at the Peter Blum Gallery (2005), Deutsche Börse AG, The Cube, Eschborn (2021-2022), a retrospective at the Fotomuseum Den Haag (2006), and a traveling exhibit (Eyes on the City) which traveled to the High Museum of Art and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in 2023-2024.