Presented at the Bridgehampton Museum, Looking is a three-person exhibition of works by painter, Rainer Andreesen, photographer, Christophe von Hohenberg and sculptor, Oscar Molina. Their different ways of looking and interpreting what they observe. Curated by Lana Jokel.
We chose to show you the work of Christophe von Hohenberg. He introduces it as follow.
For over forty years, I have sought to capture a reality that does not simply document what is seen, but reveals what is felt. Through my lens, most of my figures appear bleached by the sun, isolated against vast expanses of sand, water and sky. In that overwhelming light, forms dissolve, I was blinded by it, and in that blindness, I began to see differently…
I walk the shoreline for hours waiting like a predator with a camera. I wait for the unrepeatable moment – when presence, light, and gesture align. My work is not about the seaside alone, but about the spirit that inhabits it.
Photographing seascapes for me is a form of portraiture. The sea becomes a psychological space. The solitary figure becomes a mirror.
This philosophy extends into my portrait practice. I observe the sitter as one who shifts and adapts – like a chameleon responding to its environment. In these encounters, I move from naturalistic observation towards participant observation. I am both witness and participant. By uniting seascapes and portrait, I bring together two modes of seeing: The external and the internal, distance and intimacy, objectivity and subjectivity. These opposing forces form a syzygy — a union of opposites.
This body of work explores the meeting point between external vastness and internal depth, where landscape becomes emotional and portraits become reflection.
Christophe von Hohenberg
Christophe von Hohenberg has made a name for himself with a body of work exhibiting a distinctive urban sensibility. He is probably best known for his portraits of New York personalities-of artists, writers, fashionistas, and heiresses and men about town. Since the early eighties, he has created a kind of collective portraits of Manhattan’s beau monde, his best known book documented the mourners at Andy Warhol’s memorial in 1987-a who’s who of fashionable New York.
Christophe von Hohenberg’s complete photography collection is available at C+C Photography Gallery in New York, Nantucket, and Palm Beach. Please contact the gallery at [email protected] for more information on pricing and availability of limited edition fine art prints.
Christophe von Hohenberg : Looking
July 11 – August 9, 2026
The Nathaniel Rogers House
2539 Mtk Hwy
Bridgehampton
https://www.bridgehamptonmuseum.org/
