Shifting Perspectives

Photographer Anne Hoerter has won a number of international awards across a variety of genres, including fine art and advertising. In her work she continues to examine new ways to exhibit botanical forms and is also developing her portrait portfolio.

A: What is it about the botanical forms of plants that inspires your work (versus the human form)?
AH: I am obsessed with movement that sways toward surrealism. Plants are a continually changing entity. What I love about the botanical form is the potential to witness and record the slow continual changes of colour and shape through their impending death.

With the capability of manipulating the form through my process of multiple imagery, I am able to expose the movement that one would normally fail to see, emphasise their colour and reveal their negative and positive space.

A: The use of light is such an integral part of your photographs. What lighting equipment do you use?
AH: I can’t afford a studio or studio lighting so I have had to think outside of the box when it comes to lighting. My lighting process is somewhat out of the ordinary. I use anything from normal desk lights, flashlights, mirrors and about anything else I can find. I like to mix things up. I never write down my work process so no two photos are done exactly the same way.

A: What is your favourite work to date and why?

AH: I think at this moment, it would be my portrait work. My favourite is the actor image. It was a very exciting shoot because I had just met him ten minutes before and my goal, like with all of my portraits, is to capture the essence of someone’s individuality through a distinct feature in one single photo. The photograph really nails it, considering I have a strict rule of never learning any personal details about the person I am about to photograph until after the session is finished. It is a wonderful challenge.

A: You have been receiving quite a few awards for your images in food advertising. What percentage of your practice is focused on commercial work? How is the creative process different from your personal work?
AH: Actually, I have just started to photograph food. I am very curious and I think because of this, I like to take risks with subject matter. I am not afraid to experiment with something new which I have see at the market or elsewhere. I think it’s important to witness failure. Not everything works with my photographic process. But I like the challenge of taking something unexpected and seeing what I can get out of it.

It is also important to try and work with zero boundaries. As mentioned before, I never record my work process. I go into each new subject matter like a painter, adding and then subtracting until I have reached the final image that I have in my mind.

A: This year has been a busy one for you thus far with numerous exhibitions and awards won. With your increasingly busy schedule, how does this affect the time you spend on the creation of your work?
AH: I always know how the final image will look like before I begin and luckily most of my post work can be done at night. I also tend to work on more than one photograph at a time. I truly believe that I am the happiest behind the camera and experimenting. I can never fully rest until I have reached the final image.

A: You are currently developing your portrait portfolio – can you tell us more about this new direction?
AH: Yes; this last year I have become more and more fascinated with photographing people. I like to challenge myself to see if I can somehow extract, through my multiple imagery, distinct characteristics of that person which I’m photographing; to capture that one unique quality about them that I first recognised during our initial encounter.

A: What do you have planned for 2018?
AH: I plan to continue to build up my food advertising portfolio further with hopes of having my work published, and I would like to dig deeper into my area of portrait photography and perfect my imagery.

www.aine-photography.com

Credits:
1. Anne Hoerter, Garlic. Courtesy of the artist.
2. Anne Hoerter, Valerian. Courtesy of the artist.
3. Anne Hoerter, Mangold. Courtesy of the artist.
4. Anne Hoerter, Mackerel. Courtesy of the artist.
5. Anne Hoerter, The Mind Reader. Courtesy of the artist.
6. Anne Hoerter, The Professor. Courtesy of the artist.
7. Anne Hoerter, The Woodsman. Courtesy of the artist.