Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer (born January 21, 1922, Marburg, Germany, died November 2, 2009, Mexico City, Mexico) was a German-American portrait and documentary photographer.

She moved to Mexico with her family in 1942, then to New York in 1946. She had apprenticed with two photographers in Zurich before attempting a professional career as a fashion photographer.

Hofer used a five-inch viewfinder 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.

Her books include The Stones of Florence (1959) with Mary McCarthy; London Perceived (1962), New York Proclaimed (1965) and Dublin: A Portrait (1967), all with V.S. Pritchett; The Presence of Spain (1964) with James Morris; Emerson in Italy (1989) with Evelyn Barish; and her retrospective book Evelyn Hofer (2005).

External links

• Artnet
• Portraits at Steidl & Partners
• "Evelyn Hofer: Still Lifes"
• "Evelyn Hofer, Subtle Photographer of People and Places, Dies at 87," New York Times, November 10, 2009