Joshua Hoffine nightmare photographer

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Horrorphile - October 2009

THE ART LAIR - XI ~ Joshua Hoffine

October 19th 2009 00:41

My good cinephile buddy Oscar (who hosts the excellent Sci Fi TV website) gave me the severed heads up on the superb site of artist Joshua Hoffine, a brilliant photographer who stages elaborate horror tableaux; actors (well, family members) on sets, special effects make-up, props, etc. The photos are vivid, highly stylised nightmares, many of which pull from childrens' fairy tales and the stuff of classic bad dreams.

There’s a beauty within the grotesque framework and this is exactly what Hoffine is out to achieve; “I want my photos to be pretty so that you’ll look at them longer … I believe the horror story is ultimately concerned with the imminence and randomness of death, and the implication that there is no certainty of existence. The experience of horror resides resides with this confrontation with uncertainty. Horror tells us that out belief in security is delusional, and that the monsters are all around us.”

He maintains an extensive “behind the scenes” blog on his site, and coincidentally I discovered a recent entry where he describes the process of shooting his “Elizabeth Bathory” photograph which was exhibited at the recent Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto. He also makes jewelry (only three pieces currently available). Photographic prints are available for purchase through his website.

Check out his website and complete portfolio here

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

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Comments

9 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Natalina

October 19th 2009 01:08

My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog

These are wonderful..slightly whimsical...and scary!

I am morbidly in love with the Bathory pics. Perhaps it's the Hungarian blood running through my veins. (and thankfully not running into a bathtub!)

Comment by Bryn

October 19th 2009 04:15

Horrorphile

Curious that I should end up with two posts back to back that concern re-creating "Elizabeth Bathory" ...

Comment by Natalina

October 19th 2009 05:10

My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog

I totally thought of that too! You gots blood on the brain dear friend! LOL

Comment by Bryn

October 19th 2009 06:41

Horrorphile

So do you know of a decent book on Ms. Liz Bathory that you might be able to recommend per chance ...?

Comment by Natalina

October 19th 2009 08:34

My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog

Bathory: Memoir of a Countess by A. Mordeaux is FABULOUS! Really really good and quite detailed.

A little birdie told me that SOMEBODY who has a web site about the Unexplained may have written her own account of the Bloody Countess some time ago....

Comment by Wilson Pon

October 19th 2009 10:55

Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
Techno Stuffs
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel

Gosh, watch out your steps...!

Comment by Morgan Bell

October 19th 2009 13:33

Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk

very menacing

a clever use of children to show the element of imagination in horror, spooking yourself by imagining the worse

like ive seen you say before, Bryn, its often the things you dont see that are scarier than what you do see

things lurking in the shadows and under beds, no wonder kids freak themselves out when the lights are off

Comment by JohnDoe

October 19th 2009 19:25

Film & TV on DVD

Hi Bryn,

i saw these the other day online and thought of you immediately, just forgot to email you a link.

They are fun images that really capture the essence of visual horror through inference. Would have been entertaining staging and shooting them.

Comment by Bryn

October 19th 2009 22:44

Horrorphile

Morgan, yeah, under the bed. Yikes. One of the more profoundly frightening experiences I've ever had at the movies was the clown scene in Poltergeist when I was around 13 or so.

[ Previous - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus ]

[ Next - THEY BAN TORTURE PORN, DON'T THEY? ]

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