Damir Hoyka (born 23 April 1967) is a Croatian fine art and advertising photographer."Članovi ULUPUHA" , ulupuh.hr (retrieved 21 November 2015) The focus of his work are portraits and creative personal projects, and lately his educational project Fotosofia where he shares his knowledge and experience with photography talents. He has won several awards.
Early life
Hoyka was born in Brežice, Slovenia to Croatian parents. Three days later he was in his parents' house in Zagreb where he grew up. His enthusiasm for visual expression showed up during the summer 1981 when he started drawing comics. He finished high school in Zagreb – first two years he studied at MIOC (Mathematical Informational Educational Center), and second two years at CEZAKUM (Center for Culture and Arts). During high school years he continued to draw until photography caught his attention.
Photography career
His first photographs were published in 1985. In 1988 he studied German at the Goethe Institute in Munich in order to be able to study in German-speaking area. In 1989 he enrolled at the Faculty for Applied Arts in Vienna (Prof. Eva Choung-Fux) as a guest student. In 1991 he obtained the status of professional artist (HZSU, Zagreb)."Profesionalni samostalni umjetnici", hzsu.hr (retrieved 29 December 2015) In 1995 he lectured on photography at the photo-workshop of the Croatian Photographic Association."Ljetne fotoradionice za mlade", hrvatski-fotosavez.hr (retrieved 29 December 2015) In 1996 he published the essay Fotosofia, a collection of personal insights in photography. In the essay he is presenting one of the possible ways of observing, understanding, explaining and "using" the photographic medium. In 1998 invited by the authorities of the city of Mainz, he participated in the international artists' project Art in the City. In 1999, invited by the organizing committee of the 5th International Project for Fine Arts, in Graz, Austria, he participated in the project "If I don't get it, I'll give you no peace"."Artists 1995 – 2011", nextkunst.at (retrieved 29 December 2015) In 2003 he published the photo book Metal Dreams in collaboration with the Austrian artist Thelma Herzl. In 2004 he published the photo book Celebrity Fair."Damir Hoyka: Celebrity Fair" , culturenet.hr (8 June 2004)"Hoyka okupio svoje muze", vecernji.hr (retrieved 10 April 2004) In the same year he launched a cycle of art events called Art4All, encouraging the audience to take a more active role in art communication. In 2005 he was a guest actor in the RTL TV novel Forbidden love (Zabranjena ljubav). In 2006 he started annual seminar named after his essay Fotosofia. For each seminar he selects 15 participants by the contest. The strongholds of the seminar are photo education, creativity, networking, photographer's real-life situation experience, networking and promotion of seminarist's work and personality."Fotoseminar Damira Hoyke: Fotoprilika u kojoj se ostvaruju snovi", vecernji.hr (retrieved 29 December 2015) In 2008 he founded the photo portal www.fotosofia.info with the goal to connect all photo admirers – photographers and photo audience. In 2008 from Photo Club Zagreb he received Tošo Dabac prize for achievements in the fields of photographic art, and the developing and promotion of photographic culture."Atletić i Hoyka dobitnici Nagrade 'Tošo Dabac", culturenet.hr, za 2008. godinu (retrieved 28 April 2009) In 2008 he was a member of the Croatia's Top Model jury., jutarnji.hr (retrieved 7 March 2008) In 2009 he published the SF novel Xavia."Damir Hoyka predstavio svoj prvi SF roman", tportal.hr (retrieved 22 April 2009) In 2013. he took part in the show Dancing with the Stars."Ples sa zvijezdama", hrt.hr (retrieved 20 October 2013) To date he has published in the mass media thousands of fine art and applied-art photographs, exhibited at a numerous solo and collective shows, put on a number of multimedia projects, and has been a member and president of numerous photo juries.southeast-europe.eu, 'Jury selection' (retrieved 25 November 2015.) Hoyka has won several prizes for his work.
Selected books
1996. Essay Fotosofia, , Studio grafičkih ideja, Zagreb 2003. Photo book Metal Dreams with Thelma Herzl, , Christian Brandstaetter Verlagsgesellschaft, Wien 2004. Photo book Celebrity Fair, , Mozaik knjiga, Zagreb 2009. SF novel Xavia, , VBZ, Zagreb
Fotosofia
On the base of the essay Fotosofia, in 1996 Hoyka started the Fotosofia annual seven-day photo seminar, sharing the ideas from the essay with fifteen seminarists he chooses via contest."Završena Fotosofia 9", tportal.hr (retrieved 4 July 2014)"Modna fotografija kroz objektive 15 fotografa'", tportal.hr (retrieved 11 March 2014)"Labin: retrospektiva Fotosofije", labin.com (retrieved 9 September 2013)"Fotosofia 8 – Exhibition Day", tportal.hr (retrieved 10 July 2013.) The seminar is conceived as a combination of photo theory and photo praxis, including photo shootings of different genres and guest lecturers from disciplines directly and indirectly connected with photography. On the base of the seminar, in 2008 he founded the photo portal www.fotosofia.info
Bibliography
Glavan, Darko (2007.) "The Dilemmas and Frontiers of the Photographer of the Future", Granica/Frontier, p. 5. Mimara Museum, Zagreb. Glavan, Darko (2004.) "The Portrait - From the Visual Facts to the Individual Personality", Celebrity Fair, p. 25-31. Mozaik knjiga, Zagreb. Herzl, Anton (2003.) "Metal Dreams", Metal Dreams: Metamorphosen islaendischer Erde, p. 18-34. Christian Brandstaetter Verlagsgesellschaft, Wien. Glavan, Darko (2000.) "Shots Between the Light and the Dark", Atomystica, p. 5. Mimara Museum, Zagreb. Jurčec Kos, Koraljka (1998.) "Vremenska vrata/Time Gate", Vremenska vrata/Time Gate, p. 7. MGC Klovićevi dvori – Gradec, Zagreb. Jalšić Ernečić, Draženka (1996.) "Ritual&Flashback", Ritual&Flashback, p. 5. The Museum of the city of Koprivnica, Koprivnica. Križić-Roban, Sandra/Matičević, Davor/Glavan, Darko (1996.) "Ritual&Flashback", Ritual&Flashback, p. 27. The Museum of the city of Koprivnica, Koprivnica. Zloić, Sandra (2013.) "Foto Futur Flora", Flora, p. 2-3. The city of Labin, Labin. Dragišić, Emilija (2011.) "Dnevnik ili novi liberalizam vođenja osobnog dnevnika", Dnevnik, p. 3-4. Museum of the city of Bjelovar, Bjelovar. Ljevak, Kristina. "Fotosofia plemenski savez istomišljenika", p. 56-63. Urban Magazine, Sarajevo, 15 June 2015. Macukić, Viktorija. "Talenti iz Hoykine radionice", p. 102. Globus, Zagreb, 22 May 2015. Ujdur, Anteja. "Konstruktor s fotoaparatom", p. 34-40. Jet Set Magazine, Zagreb, 20 December 2014. Marinović, Dea. "Fotosofia - Put do uspjeha", p. 20. Večernji list, Zagreb, 5 May 2013. Žlof, Ksenija. "The Story of Life Energy", p. 94-97. Croatia Airlines Inflight Magazine, Zagreb, December 2001. Brezovečki-Biđin, Iva. "Aluminijem u Island", Vijenac, Zagreb, 18 April 2002. Tolić, Vlasta. "Erupcija svjetlosti na vulkanskom otoku", Vjesnik, Zagreb, 21 April 2002. Jendrić, Dotrotea. "Island kao novo iskušenje", p. 18. Večernji list, Zagreb, 22 April 2002.
Awards
1991. Honorable Mention at the 1st Seoul Contest of International Nude Photography, Seoul, South Korea. 1993. Honorable Mention at the 3rd Seoul Contest of International Nude Photography, Seoul, South Korea. 1994. Honorable Mention at the 29th Korea International Salon of Photography, Seoul, South Korea. 1995. Honorable Mention at the 3rd International Salon of Photography, Rovinj, Croatia. 1995. Medal of the 56th Japan International Salon of Photography, Tokyo, Japan. 2009. Price Tošo Dabac for the year 2008, for achievements in the fields of photographic art, and the developing and promotion of photographic culture, Zagreb, Croatia 2010. Price SFera for the best Croatian SF novel in the year 2009, Zagreb, Croatia"Damir Hoyka nagrađen za najbolji ZF roman", tportal.hr (retrieved 25 April 2010)"Damir Hoyka dobio nagradu SFERA za najbolji znanstveno-fantastični roman", metro-portal.hr (retrieved 25 April 2010) 2010. Price Artefakt for the best Croatian SF novel in the year 2009, Rijeka, Croatia"Književna nagrada Artefakt" , 3zmaj.hr (retrieved 20 November 2015)"Artefakt na RIKON-u", hrt.hr (retrieved 4 October 2010)
References
External links
fotosofia.info