Andrew Hoff started studying photography in college. His introduction to photography meant sharing a Konica Rangefinder 35mm camera with another student and processing film in the darkroom. He found the experience unsatisfying. Despite trepidations, he received a Canon AE-1 from his parents as a graduation present. From that point on, photography became a fulfilling adventure. While relearning photography through family and sports photographs, Andrew took the leap of faith and joined the Harrisburg Camera Club in 1986. For 34 years, Andrew has been a member while continually honing his photography skills. He started by training himself with finicky B&W infra-red film and slide film. Moving on to a Canon F-1 and an Olympus OM-4 in the mid 80’s, Andrew continued photographing in infra-red and moved to Fuji slide film. He focused extensively on architectural and landscape photography. He continued that work until digital photography made film cameras and processing untenable. In 2008, he grudgingly converted to digital photography.
The digital experience gave him new life as a photographer. He began to expand his vision and do something different. Andrew stopped photographing landscapes as his primary work and spent the next three years photographing abstractly. Since then he has worked in multiple genres of photography. In 2015, Andrew started photographing people out of necessity. The challenge of photographing people pushed him towards building a documentary portfolio based on carnival workers. His current focus has taken him to fairs and carnivals from Maine to Texas.
Andrew currently presents a variety of educational programs for novice through experienced photographers. In addition, he critiques photos and juried images for numerous photographic organizations, conferences and competitions in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and South Carolina. He has taught photography for children’s photography camps and for adult evening classes. His images have been showcased in exhibition catalogues, solo and group shows, and have been accepted into regional, national and international juried shows. Andrew’s work is in the permanent collection of the Pennsylvania State Museum and the Susquehanna Art Museum as well as in numerous private collections.
Andrew has a degree in Communications-Journalism and resides in York County, Pennsylvania. He is the past president of the Harrisburg Camera Club, having served two stints as president, and was the developer and catalyst for the annual spring “Light and Creativity” photography conference held in central PA. Under his leadership, innovation and change were crucial to the clubs’ survival, subsequent expansion, and commitment to exhibition-quality work during the transition from film to digital.