Henry Horenstein

Henry Horenstein
Henry Horenstein at the 2012 Texas Book Festival
Born	1947 New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.

Henry Horenstein (born 1947, New Bedford, Massachusetts) is an American artist/photographer. He studied history at the University of Chicago and earned his BFA and MFA at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he is now professor of photography. He has worked as a professional photographer, teacher, and author since the early 1970s. A student of photographers/teachers Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, and Minor White, Horenstein is the author of over 30 books, including a series of instructional textbooks that have been used by hundreds of thousands of photography students over the past 40 years.

In 2003, Chronicle Books published Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music, Horenstein's documentary survey of country music during the late 1970s and early 1980s. W. W. Norton & Company published a revised edition in 2013. Honky Tonk has also been presented as an exhibition at many public and private museums and galleries, notably the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 2006, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in 2005, and The Annenberg Space for Photography in 2014. Among other museums holding a collection of Horenstein's work are the J. Paul Getty Museum, the High Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Center for Creative Photography, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Henry Art Gallery. Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library holds a significant collection of Horenstein's work, as does the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

In recent years, Horenstein has been working on short documentary films. His Spoke (2014), a celebration of the legendary Austin, Texas, dance hall, the Broken Spoke, was funded by The Annenberg Space for Photography and screened at the Austin Film Festival and many other venues. Horenstein's other films include Murray (2010), with William A. Anderson and Hillary Spera and Partners, which premiered in May 2018 at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and has been touring internationally. His latest effort currently in post-production is called Blitto Underground and was filmed in Buenos Aires.

Horenstein lives in Boston. His work is represented by Clampart, New York; Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston; Paul Paletti Gallery, Louisville; and Elliott Halls, Amsterdam. He is one of RISD's Notable Alumni List of Rhode Island School of Design people.

Publications[]

• Henry Horenstein: Selected Works, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, 2019
• Make Better Pictures, Little, Brown & Co., 2018
• Shoot What You Love, Monacelli Studio, 2016
• Histories, Honky Tonk Editions, 2016
• Honky Tonk, WW Norton, 2012
• Digital Photography: A Basic Manual, Little, Brown & Co., 2011
• SHOW, Pond Press, 2010
• Animalia, Pond Press, 2008
• Close Relations, powerhouse Books, 2007
• Humans, Kehrer Verlag, 2004
• Honky Tonk, Chronicle Books, 2003
• Aquatics, Stewart, Tabori, Chang, 2001
• Photography, co-author Russell Hart, Prentice-Hall/Pearson, 2001, 2004
• Digital Photography: A Basic Manual, Little Brown, 2001
• Canine, Pond Press/Consortium Books, 2000
• Creatures, Pond Press/Consortium Books, 1999; (paperback edition) Stewart, Tabori, Chang, 2000
• Branson, MO: Las Vegas of the Ozarks, Artisan/Workman, 1998
• Racing Days, text by Brendan Boyd, Viking, 1987; (paperback edition) Owl Books/Henry Holt, 1995; Pond Press, 1999
• Color Photography: A Working Manual, Little, Brown & Co., 1995
• Baseball Days: From the Sandlots To The Show, text by Bill Littlefield, Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown & Co., 1993
• The Photographer’s Source: A Complete Catalog, Simon & Schuster, 1989
• Beyond Basic Photography: A Technical Manual, Little, Brown & Co., 1977
• Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual, Little, Brown & Co., 1974, 1983, 2005

Films[]

• Blitto Underground, 2020 (projected)
• Partners, 2018
• Spoke, 2014
• Murray, 2007
• Preacher, 1998

Articles About, etc.[]

• "Interview with Henry Horenstein", Photo.net
• "Honky-Tonk Hero: Talking with Henry Horenstein," The Paris Review
• "Sixty Years of Country Music's Greatest Icons", Slate Magazine
• "Goings On About Town", The New Yorker
• "Veteran Photographer Henry Horenstein Advises: Shoot What You Love", Mandatory
• "Big Hair, Big Cars, & Plaid Pants: Henry Horenstein's Tales from the 70s", Mandatory
• "Honky Tonk Brings the Golden Age of Country Music to Life", Mandatory
• "Henry Horenstein | Histories: Tales from the 70s @ClampArt", Collector Daily
• "Plaid Pants and All", Wallpaper*
• "1970s Stories and Celebrities Sans Smiles", The Wall Street Journal
• "Find Out What You Love and Photograph It", VICE
• "Histories: Tales from the 70's", Lenscratch
• "Horenstein's Images Celebrate a Love of Country", The Boston Globe
• "Show", The New York Photo Review
• "The Grand Ole Opry Turns 90! Henry Horenstein on His Photographs of Country Legends in '70s Nashville", Vogue
• "They're Keeping it Real Country", The Washington Post
• "Historian With a Camera", The University of Chicago Magazine
• Don't Take Pictures Issue 11

External links[]

• Henry Horenstein's Website
• Clampart
• Catherine Couturier Gallery
• Elliott Halls Gallery
• Rhode Island School of Design
• Guide to the Henry Horenstein photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

References[]