Reggia di Portici V, 2009

Candida Hofer is a German photographer. After graduating from the Kolner Werkschulen (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts), she began her career behind the lens as a portrait photographer for news publications. Hofer honed her skills under the direction of prize winning photographers, the late Bernd and Hilla Becher, who also instructed her contemporaries, including Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth. Candida Hofer employs a style of snapping color photographs of empty rooms inside public buildings like banks and offices. Arguably, her most famous work is titled: "Zoologische Garten" (Zoological Garden) series, completed in 2001. This project entailed Candida Hofer traveling to zoos across Europe where she photographed wild animals isolated in their cages. Her first significant exhibition occurred at the Konrad Fischer Galerie in 1975. Hofer's work has since been viewed at galleries and museums throughout North America and Europe. Her collections have been featured at famous museums like the Biobliotheque Nationale de France, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California; and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). From 1997 until 2000, Candida Hofer was a Professor at the Hochschule fur Gestaltung (Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design).