German artist Bettina Hoffmann was born in Berlin in 1964. The artist, who now lives and works in Montreal, is know for her photographic montages and video pieces. She has studied at several universities worldwide, and received her masters degree from Berlin's Hochschule der Kunste. The aforementioned montages are so well done that a trained eye is easily fooled into believing that the finished product is all from one negative. Figures are transported to new locations, and placed into tense tableaux, frequented by many characters. These re-staged everyday events are heightened to illuminate the conflict and social rank inherent in the photographs. Gesture and posture are key elements of her reworked images. In the series "Affaires infinies" , Hoffmann herself plays each character in the tableaux. The overall uneasiness of the images is intensified by the fact that all the figures share the same appearance, yet interact like separate beings. Witnessing the photos in this series, one gets the sense of a strong, underlying narrative, that is withheld from us. Hoffmann's camera alternately finds itself within the middle of the intimate scenes and at a distance as an observer.
I am attracted to the bizarre, and somewhat hidden narratives hinted at in Bettina Hoffmann's photographs. The works entitled, "Maitre et chien" display an unusual combination of grown adults acting like animals and children intermingling. Her figure placement is what originally caught my interest; she uses the confines of the photographic frame to her advantage.
http://www.bettinahoffmann.net/
http://www.optica.ca/decades/decadeng/files/2000e.html
http://calgary.urbanmixer.com/events/bettina-hoffman-may-16-2008
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