AiR and Exhibition: Edgar Höefs
On The Front Line
Edgar Höefs
Artist in Residence 2011
The Royal London Hospital
During his 2011 residency, Höefs met hundreds of hospital staff who agreed to participate in his portrait project, Portraits At Work. His residency concluded with an exhibition at the brand new Royal London Hospital building in 2012, launching as part of the Vital Arts Festival on 1 March 2012.
The 26 portraits on display represent a small fraction of the many photographs he took. The photographs were all taken at the old Royal London Hospital, and Höefs allows traces of the former building to appear in the background. These penetrating portraits, which each suggest the pride and dedication of Royal London staff, mark the transition into the new hospital.
Vital Arts would like to thank the staff who agreed to be photographed.
Edgar Höefs was born in Berlin in 1968. He studied photography at the Academy for Graphics and Book Art in Leipzig until 1999, followed by master class studies with Professor Timm Rautert. From 2000 to 2014 Höfs lived and worked in Ireland, Switzerland and London, since then back in Berlin. In 2002 he received a DAAD grant to study at the Zurich University of the Arts. Between 2011 and 2013 he was Artist in Residence in London. Höfs exclusively photographs portraits. For several years he has been working on his long-term portrait project: Portraits at Work.
