Research Project: Joshua Hoffine

 Joshua Hoffine

 2008, Basement by Hoffine

 2008, Clown by Hoffine

 2008, TV by Hoffine

 2008, Devil by Hoffine (eldest daughter)

 2008, Closet by Hoffine (youngest daughter)

 2008, Bed by Hoffine (youngest daughter)

 2008, Wolf by Hoffine (youngest daughter)

 2008, Prep for "Devil" by Hoffine (eldest daughter)

2013, Last Stand by Hoffine

Joshua Hoffine was born in 1973, Emporia Kansas. He graduated from Kansas City High School in 1991, and then Kansas State University in 1995, earning his B.A. in English Literature.

Afterwards, Hoffine studied photography with commercial photographer Nick Verdos, and then worked as a photo-assistant at Hallmark Cards. Eventually he began to freelance on his own as a photographer.

Horror Photography

‘Horror Photographs’ is a phrase created by Hoffine to describe the work he began making in 2003. He explained that “Horror allows us to express repressed feelings, such as terror and rage” (2008). My role as a Horror photographer is to show people what they don’t want to see” (2008). In 2008, Hoffine’s Horror photography debuted on the internet when he presented his photographs exploring childhood fears. It became instantaneously popular, gaining numerous fans and critics.

Many viewers felt that the content of his work was cruel. Being some of the subject of his photos involved his daughters posing in his terrifying photo shoots. They believed Hoffine was putting his daughters in his macabre scenes just so that he could get good photos of their reactions. People became so upset that they began to send hate mail to Hoffine, accosting him with accusations of abuse for the controversial photos of the children.

Hoffine, however, explained in an interview with the Huffington Post that his daughters were not scared at all. They actually enjoyed being their father’s models and viewed the shoots as a kind of pretend play. Hoffine said “They also know we are making a scary picture…and loved the idea of scaring the audience as much as I did.” After all, they are his daughters.

Hoffine’s work has now been published in magazines, anthologies, and news outlets, such as Rue Morgue, spreading his Horror Photography around the world. And on June 27, 2014 he will be featuring his first film, Black Lullaby. Visit www.joshuahoffine.com to learn more and see his gallery of Horror Photographs. He has a very creative collection beyond the ones exploring childhood fears that are just dying to be stuck inside your head while you sleep.

SAMPLE Research Project: Cyanotypes

Sir John Herschel

Anna Atkins

1843, British Algae by Anna Atkins

1843, British Algae by Anna Atkins

Example of Cyanotype Photo Album, 1880s-1890s.

Example of Cyanotype Photo Album, 1880s-1890s.

(Notice how images are cut circularly.)

Martha Madigan.

"Falls Bridge, 1981."

"Leham Lane Picket Fence, 1981."

"Wyncote Avenue Cyclone Fence, 1981."

Robin Hill.

"Beach Debris, 2003."

Christian Marclay.

Christian Marclay.

"Untitled. (Guns N'Roses, Sonic Youth, and two mix tapes.), 2008."

Elin O'Hara Slavick.

"A-bomb canteen, 2008."

"Fragment of a steel beam from A-bomb dome, 2008."

"Bottle deformed by A-bomb, 2008."

Discovered in 1842, by Sir John Herschel, the Cyanotype process was one of the first archival, long-lasting, photographic processes. This process came long before the discoveries of roll film or point-and-shoot cameras. Acting like a xerox machine, the cyanotype becomes a "copy" of whatever is placed on top of it. The cyanotype chemical is sensitive to the UV-rays of the sun, all one would have to do is place the object or paper negative they wanted to print onto the sensitized paper and leave it in the sun to expose. Cyanotypes are developed simply using a cool water bath. Making an image by casting light through an object that is placed directly onto the sensitized paper is called a "Photogram".

Anna Atkins, coined "The 1st Woman Photographer", was the first to use the cyanotype process. In 1843 she created a volume of prints documenting British algae. The prints were then bound into a book called, "British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions", Edition of 13.

Cyanotype was popular for a bit in the 1880s and 1890s due to the low costs of the materials and simplicity of the process. The public could purchase pre-coated cyanotype papers, leading many to have early photo albums full of cyanotypes.

The process died out quickly with the advent of faster and more precise ways of creating photographic images. Re-vitalized in the 1960s, artists began using it, as Robin Hill explains, "to see the potential in an object. To explore not how we see an object, but how light sees an object." Today it is used as a conceptual tool by fine art photographers and artists.