František Simon Hofmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1916-12-27)27 December 1916 |
| Died | April 14, 1989(1989-04-14) (aged 72) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Photographer |
František Simon Hofmann (27 December 1916 inPrague,Austria-Hungary[1] – 13 April 1989 inAuckland, New Zealand), widely known asFrank Simon Hofmann was a Czech photographer who was recognised for his art in both Europe and New Zealand.
Hofmann was born in Prague, the son of a prosperous Jewish businessman. He was givern his first camera by his mother at 13 to use on a trip toVenice, and at 16 joined the Prague Photographic Society.[1]
In 1940, Hofmann fled toEngland to escape persecution during theNazi German occupation of Prague.[1] He arrived inNew Zealand in 1940,[2] first joining cousins inChristchurch, where he began working as a freelance photographer.[1] He moved around the country searching for more permanent employment; first toWellington, followed byNapier and eventually toAuckland.[1]
In Auckland, Hofmann became deeply involved inAuckland's cultural scene: friends with artist Dennis Knight Turner, writerFrank Sargeson, violinist Maurice Clare, and architectVernon Brown.[citation needed] Hofmann began working withClifton Firth,[2][3] and became a foundation member of the Auckland String Players (later who developed into the Symphonia of Auckland), where he played violin and later served as the management chairman).[1]
In 1947, Hofmann joined Colonial Portraits as their manager of photographic production. There he met Bill Doherty, with whom he established Christopher Bede Studios, a commercial photography studio, in the early 1950s.[2][1]
Hofmann's first solo show didn't come until 1959, an exhibition at the Photographic Society of New Zealand's Tauranga convention. There was a revival of interest in Hofmann and his work in the late 1980s as a retro icon of New Zealandmodernist taste. A 1987 retrospective was mounted at Auckland's Aberhart North Gallery. In 1989 his work featured in a nationally touring show mounted by what was then the National Art Gallery, Object & Style: Photographs from Four Decades 1930s–1960s, and again in 1992 in the Auckland Art Gallery's The 1950s Show.[4]
Hofmann died in Auckland on 13 April 1989.[1]
Hofmann married editor and poetHelen Lilian Shaw in Auckland on 24 December 1941. Together they had two sons.[1]
During his time at the Prague Photographic Society, he acquired a knack of both RomanticPictorialism and modernistNew Objectivity.[citation needed] Hofmann is widely seen as one of the leading figures of New Photography, which influenced the contemporary photography movement in New Zealand.[2] His photographs were typically of urban landscapes.[2]
