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About German photographer Candida HÖFER (b.1944, in Eberswalde)
Candida HÖFER completed a traineeship at the SCHMÖLZ-HUTH photo studio in Cologne from 1963 to 1964 and then studied artistic photography with Arno JANSEN at the Cologne Werkschulen until 1968. In 1973 she took up further studies with Ole John in the film class at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, where she was a student of Bernd BECHER from 1976 onwards. She completed her studies in 1982. Alongside Andreas GURSKY, Thomas SRTUTH, Thomas RUFF and Axel HÜTTE, she is one of a group of BECHER students who belong to the international photographic avant-garde of the present day. From 1997 to 2000, she held a professorship for photography at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. Candida HÖFER lives in Cologne.
Photo books by and with works by Candida HÖFER
- 'Innenraum' (1984); 'Aus der Distanz' (1991, together with works by Bernd and Hilla BECHER, Andreas GURSKY, Axel HÜTTE, Thomas RUFF, Thomas STRUTH and Petra WUNDERLICH); 'Zoologische Gärten' (1996); 'Photographie' (1998); 'Orte Jahre' (1999); 'Leseräume' (1999); 'Ansicht - Aussicht - Einsicht' (2000, together with works by Andreas GURSKY, Axel HÜTTE, Thomas RUFF and Thomas STRUTH). with works by Andreas GURSKY, Axel HÜTTE, Thomas RUFF, and Thomas STRUTH); 'Zwölf' (2001); 'Hamburg' (2002); 'Zwischen Schönheit und Sachlichkeit' (2002, with works by Boris BECKER, Andreas GURSKY, Axel HÜTTE, Thomas RUFF, and Thomas STRUTH); 'Berlin. Wilhelmstrasse 44' (2003); 'Monograph' (2003); 'In ethnographic collections' (2004); 'Libraries' (2005, 2009, 2019, 2024); 'Louvre' (2006); 'Opéra de Paris' (2006); 'Weimar' (2007); 'In Portugal' (2007); 'Bologna Series' (2008); 'Napoli' (2009); 'Some Versailles and Paris Spaces' (2009); 'Projects: Done' (2009); 'Die Düsseldorfer Photoschule' (2009, 2017); 'Philadelphia' (2010); 'Der Rote Bulli. Stephen Shore and the New Düsseldorf Photography' (2010); 'Affinities' (2012); 'Düsseldorf' (2013); Around 1979' (2014); 'Silent Spaces' (2015); 'Memory: Hermitage, St Petersburg' (2015); 'Silent Spaces' (2015); 'In Mexico' (2016); 'Libraries. The Return' (2020); 'Editions' (2020); 'Kunsthistorisches Institut Bonn' (2020); 'Belgisches Haus' (2021); 'Raum und Bild' (2022); 'Liechtenstein' (2023);
more about the work of Candida HÖFER
Candida HÖFER began her artistic work by photographing people. She created a documentary about Turkish migrants in Germany. However, she became known for her photographs of interiors, which she began in the 1980s. She created extensive series on public spaces such as libraries, lecture halls, concert and sports halls, cafés, museums, zoological gardens and other interiors. The absence of people is characteristic of these photographs. They appear here only as absent, although in reality they are characteristic of the function of the rooms photographed. In her color photographs, the documented spaces take on a presence of their own that goes beyond the functional significance of the rooms. In contrast to her teachers Bernd and Hilla BECHER, and also unlike Andreas GURSKY and Thomas STRUTH, she did not initially use a large-format camera, although she does in her current works. In 2002 she took part in Documenta11 in Kassel and represented Germany alongside Martin Kippenberger at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. Since 2010 she has been a member of the Class of the Arts in the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. Candida HÖFER lives and works in Cologne.
Prizes and honors
- 1987: ars-viva prize from the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft;
2007: Finkenwerder Art Prize;
2015: Federal Cross of Merit 1st class;
2015: Cologne Fine Art Prize 2015;
2024: Käthe Kollwitz Prize of the Academy of Arts;
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- 1982: Museum Folkwang, Essen;
1984: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn;
1992: Hagener Kunstverein, Hagen and Städtische Galerie Haus Seel, Siegen;
1993: Hamburger Kunsthalle; Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden and Kunsthalle Bern;
1994: Castello di Rivoli, Turin and Neuer Aachener Kunstverein;
1995: Sonnabend Gallery, New York;
1998: Kunstverein Recklinghausen;
1999: Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland;
2000: Palacio del Embarcadero, Santander, Spain, Kupferstichkabinett Dresden and Kunsthalle Nürnberg;
2001: Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, Calais, France and Kunsthalle in Emden, Germany
2002: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Museum, Krefeld, Documenta11, Kassel and Altonaer Museum, Hamburg
2004: Kunsthalle Kiel;
2005: Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, USA and Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover;
2007: Neues Museum Weimar;
2008: Center for Art and Media (ZKM), Karlsruhe;
2009: Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen;
2010: MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Spain;
2012: North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts and Haus der Wissenschaften Düsseldorf;
2013: 'Frühwerk', Gallery Zander, Cologne;
2020: 'Libraries: The Return', Neue Galerie Gladbeck;
Group exhibitions
- 2010: 'Ruhrblicke', Zeche Zollverein, Essen;
2011: 'Kunsthalle Darmstadt goes to school', Kunsthalle Darmstadt;
2017: 'Photographs become pictures. The Becher Class', Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main;