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
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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Comment by Natalina
My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog
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
Horrorphile
Comment by Natalina
My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Natalina
My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog
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
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Business News
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
Film & TV on DVD
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
Horrorphile
Comment by Nick Lombardo
havent felt like that in 20 years lol. cant help but love it. =)