Candida Höfer

by Michael Krüger, Candida Höfer

The German city of Weimar, home to illustrious Renaissance and Baroque artists such as Cranach and Bach, became a major place of pilgrimage in the 18th century. With her famous library and with distinguished literary circles, Duchess Anna Amalia laid the foundations for the flourishing of literary expression in the city. Her son, Duke Karl August, called Herder, Goethe and Schiller to his court. With them, Weimar became the center of German intellectual life, the "city of poets and thinkers"--a reputation Weimar has nurtured to the present day. For her libraries project, Candida Hofer photographed the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in 2004. Shortly afterwards it fell victim to a fire. In summer 2006, she focused on historic interior spaces: the Goethe National Museum, the Residential Palace and other castles, as well as various theaters. Hofer's photographic style perfectly captures Weimar's special aura. Her strictly composed pictures seem to contain the spirit of the Enlightenment.

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Michael Krüger ist ein deutscher Schriftsteller, Dichter, Verleger und Übersetzer. Er ist seit Juli 2013 Präsident der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste.

Reviews

[Lagobond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly mediocre photos of mostly average buildings, many of them in very poor quality. Many of the buildings looked desolate rather than impressive or beautiful, although there was some beauty here and there. I've seen some stunning work by Candida Höfer, but this ain't it.

One thing I had fun with was trying to guess in which country each photo was taken. The ones from Spain especially surprised me over and over, as I thought they were in Poland or Germany etc. Photos from Nordic countries were often easier to guess correctly. Interesting.

[Astrid Terese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeg så for flere år siden en samling av Candida Höfers bilder fra bibliotek (Libraries), den er fantastisk og anbefales virkelig. Så jeg ville låne flere av hennes fotosamlinger. Det er noen av bibliotekbildene også i denne boken, men ellers er bildene satt opp som kontraster. Ganske interessant.