2005

Igreja de São Francisco de Assis, Salvador, Bahia III (Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Salvador, Bahia III)

German, born 1944

Born in Eberswalde, Germany, in 1944 and currently based in Cologne, Candida Höfer was a student of Bernd and Hilla Becher, known for their photographic documentation of industrial sites. Höfer shares with them a meticulous, systematic approach to her subjects, and extreme attention to detail. Her portrayals of public places initially seem straightforward but on closer observation reveal subtleties in light and color. These interiors reflect her acute understanding of her medium and her appreciation of the poetry of architectural spaces. This photograph is part of a recent series taken by Höfer in northeast Brazil and depict the interiors of a Baroque church in the colonial city of Bahia. Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the 1550s to 1822 and the photograph suggests that the opulent designs of these Latin American cathedrals is a physical manifestation of European imperial power, the religious fervor that partly drove it, and the resulting economic exploitation that took place in the Americas during the colonial period.