STAND BY 1999-....
Stand By Salvan (CH), 2019
Standby' is the intermediate state of a mechanical or electronic device in which most of its functions
are temporarily switched off, in order to reduce energy consumption. In a way, the device is both asleep
and awake, passive and active.
Hofmann likes this in-between state, a kind of agglomeration of reactivity and serenity. In his view,
it is also the only attitude he can legitimately assume when using the photographic medium. For 'Stand By',
he defines a 16/9 frame (in reference to the narrative proportions used in cinema) and waits for small events to
unfold within this predefined portion of space. This frame is like an empty theatre stage, a "place of all possibilities".
He waits patiently, often for hours, for the image to take shape. But, in the end, who will have made the image?
The failure to capture the image is also part of the game. Here, it's the act of waiting that's essential,
and the photograph is only a trace of it. This experience has enabled Hofmann to appreciate the slowness of
the working process, which has become a specific feature of his research.
