Evelyn Hofer
, German, 1922-2009
Title
Boots Repair, Dublin, 1966Date2002
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 36 x 28.5 cm
Sheet: 50 x 40 cm
Credit LinePresented, Estate of Evelyn Hofer, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.188
DescriptionGerman-American documentary and portrait photographer, Evelyn Hofer spent her early years studying photography, eventually landing a role working for Alexey Brodovitch of Harper's Bazaar when she moved to New York in 1946. Hofer used a four-by-five-inch view camera to make orderly and well-constructed portraits and scenic photographs. Hofer visited Dublin in 1966 to capture scenes of everyday life, which informed her book 'Dublin: A Portrait' (1967) made in collaboration with author V.S. Pritchett. In colour and black and white, her work depicts Ireland at the tipping point between an older, more conservative culture and the emerging modern world. Hofer is represented by 7 photographs of Dublin in the NGI collection.Hofer captured interiors as well as exteriors as she moved through Dublin. Here, she photographs the chaos of the interior of a shoe repair shop in which a dog sits atop a counter next to a woman’s boot that is in the process of being repaired.
ProvenancePurchased, Estate of Evelyn Hofer, through Galerie m, Bochum, Germany, 2019Exhibition HistoryNew Perspectives. Acquisitions 2011 - 2020, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 11 May - 2 August 2021