Place
Photographs, 2014
"Place" is more than just an abstract location; it can be described by the words "landscape" and "living space". The link between the concepts of "space" and "character" can be characterised by the term "inhabited space." Specific objects, their material, form, texture and colour together form a notion of an area’s character. "Place" can be seen as a combination of all aforementioned concepts. In his essay "The Morphology of Landscape" Carl Ortwin Sauer claims that "the facts of geography are facts of place" and that the combination of these facts creates a landscape. A landscape is created by urban details as well as by natural elements. The parts of a landscape created by people are first and foremost settlements which transform natural landscapes into cultured landscapes. In landscapes which have been mastered and subjugated by people, housing brings "earth" closer to its inhabitants. It is hard to differentiate landscapes created by man from natural landscapes. Urban landscapes influence inhabitants’ collective memory; they exemplify time which is spent in a specific place, which in its turn visually results in a shared territory. The landscape illustrates cultural influence on a place at a specific time.
Artist's Bio:
Reinis Hofmanis graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia and earned an MA degree in fine arts (2012), studied photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover (2007). Participates in exhibitions since 2003. His works have been exhibited in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Canada and Singapore. Recipient of the Archifoto Award in 2012. In 2013 he earned 2nd place at the Sony World Photography Awards in the architecture category.