Libraries by Candida Höfer is essentially porn for literary, photography and architecture buffs.
Here’s an excerpt from publisher Thames & Hudson.
This sumptuous volume contains Höfer’s famously ascetic images of the British Library in London, the Escorial in Spain, the Whitney Museum and the Pierpoint Library in New York, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Villa Medici in Rome and the Hamburg University Library, among others.
Thanks to the nonist (with assists from Google Reader and FriendFeed) I became aware of this collection and got to preview many of these gorgeous photos there and at artnet. Description would only get me so far, so instead I’ll let you decide with a sampling of her work.
Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-Generaal Den Haag
The Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland
Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura Rio De Janeiro
The photos showcase a passion for history and for literature. They are cathedrals built for knowledge. And I can’t think of a better subject to celebrate.
I can picture myself in these libraries, or picture others silently flipping through well thumbed tomes. Höfer helps you do this by photographing these places sans people. You become the interloper, the one whose shoes are echoing down the hall or chair scraping across the floor.
Conversely, there is a part of me that ruminates on a potential Armageddon when looking at these empty libraries. The world condensed and preserved for someone to stumble into from a blinding (nuclear) winter snow. And of understanding the very small place you have in the universe.
That’s why these photographs work, because they aren’t just buildings. They evoke thought and emotion. I hope they dazzle you and spark your imagination as they have mine.
