Candida HÖfer Awarded 2024 KÄthe Kollwitz Prize

German photographerCandida Höfer, who is widely known for her investigations of public spaces and architecture, has been named the winner of the 2024Käthe Kollwitz Prize. Presented by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, the prestigious honor has been awarded annually since 1960 to a visual artist living and working in Germany. Höfer received €12,000 ($13,400) at a September 13 ceremony. An exhibition of her work opened September 14 at the Akademie der Künste, where it will remain on view through November 24.

Born in Eberswalde, Germany, in 1944, Höfer studied under Arno Jansen and Bernd Becher. Originally working in black-and-white, she became interested in color in the late 1970s while shooting a series of works showing Turkish families who had immigrated to Germany in their new homes, believing the format would show her subjects better. After experiencing significant success with a color series depicting guest workers, Höfer turned her attention to public spaces—such as libraries, museums, theaters, and zoological gardens—which she typically shot emptied of inhabitants and from a direct angle, in an effort to reveal what she described as the psychology of social architecture, oftentimes creating a portrait of institutional culture in the process. Her photographs are characterized by their large scale, lack of occupants, and vivid hues.

“With her precision of image focus and detail, Candida Höfer gives the spaces a significant, almost spiritual quality, which is reinforced by the presence of the people who are absent,” said Karin Sander, a prize jury member and director of the Akademie’s visual arts section, in a statement. Höfer joins a distinguished cohort of prize recipients, including Sandra Vásquez de la Horra (2023), Nan Goldin (2022), Maria Eichhorn (2021), Timm Ulrichs (2020), Hito Steyerl (2019), Adrian Piper (2018), and Katharina Sieverding (2017).