Frank Hofmann (1916-89): Light and Shadow

A DigitalNZ Story by Sienna Latham

In 1940, František Simon Hofmann fled the strengthening grip of the Nazi regime on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The burgeoning photographer and violinist soon left England for New Zealand, where he found love during a visit to Christchurch. Hofmann and Timaru-born writer Helen Shaw married and settled in Auckland in 1941. He worked as a commercial photographer with Clifton Firth (http://digitalnz.org/user_sets/5082284a8d2a4e297500002a) and in the 1950s founded Christopher Bede Studios with Bill Doherty. The Hofmanns formed a vital part of the city's lively arts community, and the musicians, visual artists, writers and architects they knew proved as influential to his photography as the Czech avant-garde and modernism he helped to popularize in New Zealand. After Helen passed away in 1985, Hofmann dedicated himself to the publication of her poetry until his own death four years later. He is survived by their two sons.

photography, modernism, pictorialism, avant-garde, architecture, life, objects, portraiture, perspective, beauty

Image: Anemones

Anemones

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Jerusalem: Yeshiva

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Wire mesh

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Tilli Aldrich

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Shell composite

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Clifton Firth

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Condenser lenses

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Studio arrangement

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Kampa Steps, Prague

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Tumblers

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Diving tower, Prague

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Formal composition

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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New York contrasts

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Guggenheim Museum II

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Cafeteria, Queenstown

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Helen Shaw

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Guggenheim Museum I

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Rome: Piazza del Quirinale

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Reversal design

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Portrait of a pianist (Lili Kraus)

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Instrument

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Caducity

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Design for bookplate

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Valmai Moffett

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Projection image: scissors

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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The Madeleine, Paris

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Projection image: light bulbs

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Untitled (architectural composition)

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Clothesline

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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Rear vision mirror, London

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Image: Lili Kraus II

Lili Kraus II

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa