Evelyn Hofer
Evelyn Hofer (January 21, 1922 – November 2, 2009) was a German-American portrait and documentary photographer.
Also recorded as Evelyn Elvira Hofer
Evelyn Hofer
Evelyn Hofer (1922-2009) · Public domain
- Name
- Evelyn Hofer
- Born
- 21 January 1922
- Birthplace
- Marburg, Germany
- Died
- 2 November 2009
- Place of death
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Field
- Photography
- Nationality
- United States · Mexico · German Reich
- Occupation
- photographer
- Fields
- photography · portrait photography · documentary photography
- Teachers
- Hans Finsler
- Languages
- English · German
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Evelyn Hofer (January 21, 1922 – November 2, 2009) was a German-American portrait and documentary photographer.
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Note VALÉORINE
Evelyn Hofer (1922–2009) was a photographer and a national of German Reich and Mexico. Born in Marburg, the photographer died in Mexico City.
Evelyn Hofer worked in New York City. The photographer was active in documentary photography, photography and portrait photography.
Languages used include English and German. Works by Evelyn Hofer are held at Metropolitan Museum of Art and Photography Collection.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q5416347 · wikipedia · Evelyn Hofer
In this article
Biography
Biography
Training under Hans Finsler is recorded. The recorded working language is English and German. The field of work recorded is photography, portrait photography and documentary photography. Places of work recorded in the authority are New York City. Work by Evelyn Hofer is recorded in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photography Collection and J. Paul Getty Museum.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Evelyn Hofer • Born — 21 January 1922 • Birthplace — Marburg, Germany • Died — 2 November 2009 • Place of death — Mexico City, Mexico • Field — Photography • Website — www.evelynhofer.com
Life and work
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. It was in Mexico that she had her first work as a professional photographer. She moved to New York in 1946, where she worked with Alexey Brodovitch of Harper's Bazaar and befriended Richard Lindner and Saul Steinberg. 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.
Exhibitions
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.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1922
Evelyn Hofer was born on 21 January 1922.
2009
Evelyn Hofer died on 2 November 2009.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Marburg.
Birth place
Mexico City.
Death place
Books
• Illustration — Some books with photography by Evelyn Hofer (flanked by irrelevant Pelicans) • 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.. • London. Herz und Antlitz einer Stadt. Text by V. S. Pritchett, trans. Margot Berthold. Munich and Zurich: Droemer, 1964. • New York Proclaimed. Text by V. S. Pritchett. Chatto & Windus / Heinemann, 1965. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965. London: Reprint Society, 1966. • New York. Herz und Antlitz einer Stadt. Text by V. S. Pritchett. Munich and Zurich: Droemer, 1966. • Dublin: A Portrait. Text by V. S. Pritchett. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. London: Bodley Head, 1967. London: Hogarth, 1991.. London: Bloomsbury, 2011.. • The Presence of Spain. Text by James Morris. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1964. London: Faber & Faber, 1964. • Spanje zoals het is. Text by James Morris. The Hague: Gaade, 1965. • Spanien. Porträt eines stolzen Landes. Text by James Morris, trans. Kai Molvig. Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, 1967. Knaur-Taschenbücher 176. Munich: Droemer, 1968. • The Evidence of Washington. Text by William Walton. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. London: Bodley Head, 1967. • Portrait: Theory: Photographs and Essays by David Attie, Chuck Close, Jan Groover, Evelyn Hofer, Lotte Jacobi, Gerard Malanga, Robert Mapplethorpe and James Van Der Zee. Edited by Kelly Wise. New York: Lustrum, 1981. • Emerson in Italy. Text by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Evelyn Barish. New York: Holt, 1989.. • Evelyn Hofer: Photographs. Lausanne: Musée de l'Élysée, 1994.. • Evelyn Hofer. Edited by Susanne Breidenbach. Göttingen: Steidl, 2004.. Galerie m..
Collections
Collections
• Getty Museum • Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Evelyn Hofer”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5416347: Evelyn Hofer
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.William Grimes, "Evelyn Hofer, subtle photographer of people and places, dies at 87", New York Times, November 10, 2009. Accessed January 5, 2013.
- 2.Buchrs, Michael. Evelyn Hofer. Steidl. 2015. 978-3-95829-015-0.
- 3.The WorldCat record for this says "[México, Kamin, 1953?]".
- 4.The British edition of this book (London: Guilford Press, 1955; ) is instead illustrated by Rolf Dürig.
- 5.Kramer, Hilton. ENDURING IMAGES. The New York Times. 31 January 1982.
- 6.Maison Solvay, Hall (Getty Museum). The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles.
- 7.Evelyn Hofer: Anna and Emma, Dublin. mfah.org.
- 8.Evelyn Hofer - Exhibitions - Peter Blum Gallery, New York. www.peterblumgallery.com.
- 9.Evelyn Hofer. Encounters with the Camera. www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org.
- 10.Haag, Fotomuseum Den. Evelyn Hofer. www.fotomuseumdenhaag.nl. 2014-01-06.
- 11.Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City. High Museum of Art.
- 12.The Nelson-Atkins presents Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City. Nelson Atkins.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 3
- Harris, Gregory, J. and April M Watson (eds.). Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City. Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 2023. . (exhibition catalog)
- Hofer, Evelyn; Buhrs, Michael; Schmid, Sabine; Pauly, Andreas; Gerhard Steidl GmbH & Co, oHG. Evelyn Hofer (1922-2009) Retrospektive. Göttingen Steidl, 2015. .
- Rosenblum, Naomi. A History of Women Photographers. New York: Abbeville, 2014. .
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the heading Evelyn Elvira Hofer.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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