Biography

Fine Art Photography: An Unexpected Journey?

When you grow up in the countryside, you develop a certain bond with nature from childhood on. In the specialized "eco-class" at high school my understanding of the environment was deepened and at the HTL we were taught the sustainable use of the natural material wood. My class teacher suggested to me that a technical education always combines well with an economic one and so it was a logical step for me to start a business-related study. That's why I chose a FH degree program to get into work as quickly as possible. I completed my internship in the 5th semester in the paper industry, that used 100% recycled fibers - an environmental aspect that made me continue working there and still complete my studies in the full-time version simultaniously.
During this time, I started hiking more and discovered the nature photography for me.

Nature as a stress manager

What began as a counterbalance to the hectic study and work life, became more and more serious as time went by: a large format camera, large format printer and always driven by the desire to take even better pictures.
With time this stress management became a kind of "job" itself and I thought about how to include it into my career. Scientifically proven that nature pictures support the recovery of stress in the observer and topics like burn-out prevention became more and more present, after 12 years I decided to combine nature photography with my HTL education as interior designer, to offer interior design projects to companies which focus on stress management of employees.

The artwork nature

In addition to pictures to balance stress, I also try to treat nature as an artwork itself. That's why I arrange the elements in my nature pictures in a way so the final composition deserves the title "Fine Art" and printed in state-of-the-art process on Fine Art materials, retain their charisma for a lifetime.

Environmental awareness

Without nature there would be no life. Over the years, nature changes itself but also by the intervention of man. Some of my pictures already document landscapes that do not exist in this form today and trhough such pictures I try to increase the viewer's awareness of the environment.

Milestones

The man behind the camera(s)

Camera(s) because I use different cameras for specific use cases: digital SLR cameras including a dedicated infrared camera as well as large format film cameras in 4x5'' and 8x10''.

Pius Hofer with large format view camera

Through the work that I put into the creation of my pictures, I hope to brighten the day for all viewers!

Your PIUS HOFER