Lady Bathory | JOSHUA HOFFINE
I first encountered Hoffine’s work in a tiny, hallway gallery stuffed between two established galleries in Kansas City’s Crossroads district a couple years ago. His photography has stuck with me ever since.
He uses a mix of film-set props and still photography to set literal scenes, which allow a physical, yet surreal style. Since no photoshopping is used, the resulting images have an intimacy that compliment the horror themes beautifully. Much of what disturbs about these images is the very real, very tactile presentation.
This particular image, when set against his other work, stands out because of the blood’s implied movement. Hoffine doesn’t use a lot flowing liquid in his work (as he relies on still sets), but here’s hoping he does more in the future. The institutional set–all tiles and and grime–contrasts the relaxed lower figure, allowing the floating figure to seem strangely relevant and appropriate.
For more about Lady Bathory, visit Hoffine’s blog post.
Visit Joshua Hoffine’s website
Nice post! I am so glad that Hoffine’s blog had such a detailed decription of what went into capturing these photos.
I appreciate that he has continuously used children as the protagonists in his horror/fairy-tale scenes. Identifying with a child seems to grant the viewer a license to imagine, helping surreal props blend in and out of the setting more seamlessy.
Absolutely wonderful! I instantly adored the attention to detail in the blood soaked grout.