Horror is a genre usually reserved for film, but for photographer Joshua Hoffine photography is the best way to capture moments of fear. The suspense remains hanging, unresolved, in a static image.
"Horror is as existential as it is visceral," he said. "At it's most basic and mystical level, horror is about acknowledging the suffering of life, and then transcending it."
Though a majority of Hoffine's work is commissioned through freelance, he pursues his personal interest in the psychology of fear on the side. Most of the images are constructed like a theater set, using smoke and mirrors to bring them to life.
"As small children we experience certain inherent and instinctual fears such as fear if the dark, fear of lurking danger, and the fear of being eaten," he writes on his website. "As we grow older, these fears lose their intensity and are slowly shuffled away into our unconscious … horror photography is able to present these abstract and forgotten fears in literal terms."
Go to Hoffine's website to see more of his work. And, go to his blog to view behind-the-scenes images.
What do you think? Do you think horror photography is as powerful as a horror film can be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Click through below for some of Joshua Hoffine's "Horror Photography:"
