Henry Horenstein Explained

Henry Horenstein
Birth Place:	New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.

Henry Horenstein (born 1947) is an American artist, photographer, filmmaker and educator.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} He is the author of over 35 books, including a series of instructional textbooks.

Life and work

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, filmmaker, teacher, and author since the early 1970s.

Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music (2003) is a documentary survey of country music during the late 1970s and early 1980s. 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.

In recent years, Horenstein has been working on short documentary films. His films include Murray (2010), with William A. Anderson and Hillary Spera; Spoke (2014), a celebration of the Austin, Texas, dance hall, the Broken Spoke, which was funded by The Annenberg Space for Photography and screened at the Austin Film Festival; Partners (2018), which premiered in May 2018 at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts; and Blitto Underground (2021), about bohemian Buenos Aires, which premiered at the International Film Festival in Buenos Aires, the Paris Independent Film Festival, and the Berlin International Art Film Festival. His film about Cajun Louisiana, called Marksville, LA, is scheduled for a 2025 release.

Speedway 1972, his photographs shot at the Thompson Speedway (Connecticut) 50 years ago, was published by Stanley/Barker (UK) in 2022.^[9]

We Sort of People, in collaboration with writer Leslie Tucker, was published by Kehrer Verlag (Germany) in 2023. Miles & Miles of Texas will be published by Dallas publisher 1814magazine in 2025.

Horenstein lives in Boston.

Publications

• Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual, Little, Brown, 1974, 1983, 2005
• Beyond Basic Photography: A Technical Manual, Little, Brown, 1977
• The Photographer's Source: A Complete Catalog, Simon & Schuster, 1989
• Baseball Days: From the Sandlots To The Show, text by Bill Littlefield, Bulfinch/Little, Brown, 1993
• Color Photography: A Working Manual, Little, Brown, 1995
• Racing Days, text by Brendan Boyd, Viking, 1987; (paperback edition) Owl/Henry Holt, 1995; Pond, 1999
• Branson, MO: Las Vegas of the Ozarks, Artisan/Workman, 1998
• Creatures, Pond/Consortium, 1999; (paperback edition) Stewart, Tabori, Chang, 2000
• Canine, Pond/Consortium, 2000
• Digital Photography: A Basic Manual, Little Brown, 2001
• Photography, co-author Russell Hart, Prentice-Hall/Pearson, 2001, 2004
• Aquatics, Stewart, Tabori, Chang, 2001
• Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music, Chronicle, 2003
  • Revised edition. WW Norton, 2012.
• Humans, Kehrer, 2004
• Close Relations, powerhouse, 2007
• Animalia, Pond, 2008
• SHOW, Pond, 2010
• Digital Photography: A Basic Manual, Little, Brown, 2011
• Histories, Honky Tonk, 2016
• Shoot What You Love, Monacelli, 2016
• Make Better Pictures, Little, Brown, 2018
• Henry Horenstein: Selected Works, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, 2019
• Speedway72, Stanley/Barker, 2022. .^[10]
• We Sort of People, Kehrer Verlag, 2023
• Miles and Miles of Texas, 1814magazine, 2025

Films

• Preacher (1998)
• Murray (2007) – with William A. Anderson and Hillary Spera
• Spoke (2014)
• Partners (2018)
• Blitto Underground (2021)
• Marksville, LA (2025)

Film Credits

• Imagraphy (2019)
• Country: Portraits of an American Sound (2015)
• The Photographers Series: Henry Horenstein (2014)

Collections

Horenstein's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• J. Paul Getty Museum^[11]
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston^[12]
• San Antonio Museum of Art^[13]
• Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library – holds a significant collection of Horenstein's work
• Smithsonian Museum of American History – holds a significant collection of Horenstein's work^{[14] [15]}

General references

• https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2022/aug/17/a-night-at-the-races-out-on-the-speedway-in-pictures-henry-horenstein
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/wild-world-1970s-stock-car-racing-pictures/
• https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/30/arts/photographer-henry-horenstein-elevates-overlooked-with-shows-portsmouth-boston/

External links

• • Henry Horenstein collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Photographic History collection)
• Guide to the Henry Horenstein photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

Notes and References

1. News: Sean. O'Hagan. 2023-02-16. 'You had to be quick!': Henry Horenstein on his breathtaking Speedway pics. The Guardian. 17 August 2022. 0261-3077.
2. News: Teicher . Jordan G. . 2014-05-23 . Sixty Years of Country Music's Greatest Icons . en-US . Slate . 2023-03-14 . 1091-2339.
3. Henry Horenstein . 2023-03-14 . The New Yorker . en.
4. Web site: updated . Harriet Lloyd Smith last . 2016-01-22 . In pictures: the W* photography desk's 2016 digest of visual inspiration . 2023-03-14 . wallpaper.com . en.
5. News: 2016-04-29 . 1970s Stories and Celebrities Sans Smiles . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2023-08-02 . 0099-9660.
6. Web site: Find Out What You Love, and Photograph It . 2023-03-14 . www.vice.com . 11 December 2014 . en.
7. Web site: Feeney . Mark . Horenstein's images demonstrate a love of country - The Boston Globe . 2023-08-02 . BostonGlobe.com . en-US.
8. News: O'Sullivan . Michael . 2006-03-31 . They're Keeping It Real Country . en-US . Washington Post . 2023-03-14 . 0190-8286.
9. Web site: 2022-10-27. 'You had to be quick!': Henry Horenstein on his breathtaking Speedway pics. 17 August 2022. The Guardian.
10. Web site: Zoe. Whitfield. 2022-10-27. These nostalgic photos capture speedway races in the 70s. i-d.vice.com.
11. Web site: 2022-10-27. Henry Horenstein (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection). The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection.
12. Web site: 2022-10-27. Henry Horenstein - People - The MFAH Collections. emuseum.mfah.org.
13. Web site: 2022-10-27. SAMA Receives Gift of More than 850 Photographs: Pivotal Moments of the 20th Century - Press - San Antonio Museum of Art. www.samuseum.org.
14. Web site: 2022-10-27. Photographic History Collection: Henry Horenstein. National Museum of American History.
15. Web site: 2022-10-27. Henry Horenstein - Smithsonian American Art Museum. americanart.si.edu.