“Living Pictures”
by Herbert Hoffmann


Exhibition dates:
October 30th - December 18th 2010
Opening party:
Saturday, October 30th 5-8 pm
Opening by tattoo legend Henk Schiffmacher,

Ten Haaf Projects is pleased to announce the exhibition “Living Pictures” by Herbert Hoffmann (1919-2010). Herbert Hoffmann was drawn from an early age to people with tattoos. During the Third Reich, tattooed people were seen as criminals. Consequently, the tattoo culture diminished. Hoffmann was held prisoner of war for 4 years by the Russians, after which he returned to Germany and began to work as a travelling salesman.

Through his job, for which he travelled a great deal, he encountered people who still were tattooed despite the old Nazi ban. From 1961, Hoffmann opened his own tattoo studio. While working and meeting people, Hoffmann always took along his camera and took photos of the people he met. These photos are now a diary of his life. In them we see people of all walks of life, in their most intimate and touching way: in one way showing their tattoos, while actually showing who they really are.



Download Press Documentation

Herbert Hoffmann’s “Living Pictures” are photos in which the subjects communicate their stories, and in which Hoffmann, with respect and admiration for the people, lets them speak. The people in Hoffmann’s pictures are proud of who they are, and share their most frank and intimate moments with us.