John Hoerner
Out of Sight - faces in the Arts crowd through the lens of a blind photographer
John Hoerner’s latest exhibition, Out of Sight - faces in the Arts crowd through the lens of a blind photographer, is a series of portraits taken at various gallery openings and arts related events. Hoerner, who has been taking photographs throughout his life with a wide variety of cameras and using a broad spectrum of printing and processing techniques, has in recent years approached photography from a completely new perspective.
As the title of this exhibition refers to, Hoerner lost most of his sight as a result of several strokes in 2003, the sight that does remain is limited to a pinhole of vision. Hoerner discovered early after the stroke that by looking at the new digital camera screens that frame our photographs, his peripheral vision expanded and he could once again see what was occurring around him at events he continues to attend. Hoerner’s fascination with the possibilities of technology combined with the opportunity to photograph faces in the arts crowd has led him to build a collection of images of the broad cross section of people that attend many of Melbourne's most significant art events.
Having first exhibited with Kick Gallery in 2010, this second exhibition with Kick continues to be a documentation of Hoerner’s new view and those that have created the vibrant visual arts scene in Melbourne in the last 40 years. As the distinguished photographer Joyce Evans recently remarked to Hoerner, “You have a way of catching the sense of so many of my friends"
In addition to the artistic and documentary elements of the photography on show, a key component of this Out of Sight exhibition is to help raise awareness of the importance of understanding stroke, its symptoms and the way back. As Hoerner states, “Stroke is like a brain attack however the brain's amazing 'plasticity' has enabled me and many others to rebuild our lives.” John has been working on his current exhibition Out of Sight for the past eighteen months and aims to use this exhibition to reinforce the Stroke Foundation's 'F.A.S.T campaign' to create preventative awareness of Stroke symptoms.