The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
April 2015 back issue
by Elis Hoffman
“The images in Fading were all created in small rural towns
around Sweden – places Elis had never traveled to before. By
staying close to home, yet taking unfamiliar paths, he opens
the door to chance. Equally, the subjects he photographs
are people he has never met prior to this moment: strangers,
yet they also make up the vital elements of a very personal
journey – a soul searching walkabout. By studying their lives
the artist discovers unexpected aspects of himself. Working like
an archeologist, he investigates these foreign sites, examining
the artifacts he finds there, teasing out the answers to
his own deeper philosophical questions. Thus the images are
as much about him as an artist and a person, as they are about
his subjects.
At its base Fading explores these these simple facts: Seasons
change; leaves fall from the trees and die, winter moves in –
everything is constantly fading. Spring arrives, restoring life
and as quickly as new seedlings emerge, fading begins
again. Each second ends as it begins. This is what Elis
Hoffman pays silent witness to through his images – the exploration of this transitory nature in all things.
Observing Elis’ journey we feel no sense of separation between photographer and subject, what we experience is
instead a deep collaboration.”
Peggy Sue Amison