Horror Photography: Life's Moments, One Trauma at a Time

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Horror Photography: Life's Moments, One Trauma at a Time


Joshua Hoffine is a photographer with a taste for the dark side: He does "horror photography," and he does it very well.

An escaped psycho killer about to butcher a babysitter and her young charge. Lady Bathory bathing in a stream of blood gushing from the throat of a freshly butchered victim. A giant snake about to swallow a screaming baby whole. All of that and more are just part of a day's work for Hoffine, a photographer who specializes in the creepy and bizarre.

In reality, capturing those most horrific of life's moments on film is only a small part of his job. As he shows on his blog [http://joshuahoffine.wordpress.com/], a significant portion of his time (and that of his many volunteers) is spent setting the stage: Building props or entire sets, applying complex makeup, lugging equipment deep into forests and more. But the end result, I think you'll agree, is worth it.

It's also interesting to note that for a guy who puts so much effort into taking photos of people eating their own arms or having their faces carved off, Hoffine himself sounds remarkably well-adjusted. For the photo When a Stranger Calls [http://joshuahoffine.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/making-babysitter/]. There is something very vulnerable about the teenage babysitter - no longer a child, but not yet an adult - attempting to shoulder grown-up responsibilities. Ultimately though, this photograph focuses on just one thing - what if something awful was waiting for you right around the corner?"



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Kiutu

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Sep 27, 2008
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SirBryghtside said:
That's a freaky picture...

I applaud Joshua Hoffine.

And I don't even want to search for

An escaped psycho killer about to butcher a babysitter and her young charge. Lady Bathory bathing in a stream of blood gushing from the throat of a freshly butchered victim. A giant snake about to swallow a screaming baby whole.
The blog link has em all and alot of details of the set up. Was cool, though the snake one looked cheesy, the actual snake anyways.
 

Radeonx

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Apr 26, 2009
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Well, the man in the picture certainly looks like he's enjoying himself.
Maybe these pictures aren't as bad as they want you to believe.
 

Joshimodo

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Sep 13, 2008
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Nice lighting setup. I love shots taken with snoots. Most of my work focusses on the kind of lighting they provide.

Some interesting ideas on his blog, too.


EDIT: Just looked at his older stuff, I've actually seen this guy before. Good work.
 

JRCB

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Jan 11, 2009
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Wow, that's a really good picture. Still creepy as hell, though.
 

Ryuk2

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Sep 27, 2009
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I like those pictures. One picture worth more than some of those horror movies.
 

QuirkyTambourine

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Jul 26, 2009
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....buhhhhhhhh some of those are pretty messed up. Awesome photos though

When I clicked the thread, I thought it would be someone asking for the most horrible photos they can post (thank god). I only bring this up because my grandfather is a crime scene photographer and nothing says Thanksgiving dinner like him getting out his box of horrifying pictures to show me why I shouldn't drive fast.
 

[Cold-Shoulder]

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Jun 5, 2009
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These pictures are amazingly done!
Must have taken him and his co-workers a long time to set everything up.
Most of them seem like they are from a Tim Burton movie.
 

ae86gamer

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Mar 10, 2009
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The pictures are stunning.

The one with the snake and the baby reminds me of The Nightmare Before Christmas for some reason. :]