Introduction
AQUATICS
Henry Horenstein (*1947) has been a popular figure and teacher in American photography for a long time, spreading his influence to a myriad of admirers and practitioners of the art, including Nan Goldin, for example, who was one of his students. Among his teachers were also the master photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. Since the 1970’s he has been teaching at the famous Rhode Island School of Design. His curriculum vita documents more than 30 books and countless exhibitions in museums and galleries at home and abroad. Describing his animal photographs the newspaper Boston Globe writes: "Henry Horenstein creates quasi-abstract forms of creatures." Not only his series "Creatures" with land animals, but also his photographs "Aquatics" of underwater creatures, are central contributions to today's animal photography. His works are painstaking, precise, and soulful at the same time. “Ten years ago, for no discernible reason, I began photographing land and sea animals and produced books called CREATURES, CANINE, and AQUATICS. As the work progressed, I moved closer and closer so I could see my subjects more intimately. This way of working felt very different than photographing people, places, and events as a documentary photographer; it was far more peaceful, relaxing, and introspective. And it required a lot more patience. Photographing the human body was simply a natural extension of this direction.In all these photographs my goal is very basic. I want to make fundamentally good pictures – well-crafted photographs that make you stop and look and maybe reflect. Beyond that, I have no grand design, no hidden or overt agenda. You can choose to see these pictures in any way you want, as graphic images, as metaphors, or even as documents. It really doesn't matter to me.”
Henry Horenstein
Bio
| 1965-69 | University of Chicago, History Major |
| 1967 | University of Warwick (England) |
| Study with Historian E.P. Thompson |
| 1968 | Summer Workshop, Arlington, MA |
| Study with Minor White |
| 1970-73 | Rhode Island School of Design |
| MFA, Photography (1973) |
| BFA, Photography (1971) |
| Study with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind |
| 1974-76 | Instructor, Photography, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA |
| Since 1975 | Free-lance photographer and author |
| 1976-78 | Instructor, Photography, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA |
| 1979-85 | Creative consultant, Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, MA |
| 1981-94 | Part-time faculty, Photography and Illustration: Rhode Island School of Design |
| 1989 | Visiting Faculty, Cooper Union, New York, NY |
| Since 1994 | Professor, Photography: Rhode Island School of Design |
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Collections
Bank Boston, Boston, MA
Berman Collection, Los Angeles, CA
Bloomingdale’s, New York, NY
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
Camera Works, New York, NY
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge, MA
George Eastman House, Rochester, NY
Henry Buhl Collection, New York, NY
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Museum of Art, Princeton University
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Pfizer Collection, New York, NY
Polaroid Collection, Cambridge, MA
Putnam Investments, Boston, MA
Reader’s Digest Foundation, Pleasantville, NY
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC
Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
| 2007 | “Looking at Animals”, Harvard University Museum of Natural History, Cambridge | |
| | “Honky Tonk”, Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI | |
| “Humans and Other Creatures”, Farmani Gallery, Los Angeles | |
| 2006 | “Honky Tonk”, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Washington , DC | |
| “Honky Tonk”, HUG Gallery, Amsterdam 2006 | |
| “Humans and Other Creatures”, John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX | |
| “Humans”, Clifford-Smith Gallery, Boston, MA | |
| 2005 | “Aquatics”, Kidder Smith Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA | |
| “Humans and Other Creatures”, Candace Perich Gallery, Katona, NY | |
| 2004 | “Honky Tonk”, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC | |
| “Honky Tonk”, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA | |
| “Honky Tonk”, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA | |
| “Honky Tonk”, Paul Kopekin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | |
| “Honky Tonk”, John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX | |
| 2003 | “Honky Tonk”, Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York, NY | |
| “Honky Tonk”, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, TN | |
| “Aquatics, Creatures, & Canine”, Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, TX | |
| 2002 | “Aquatics”, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA | |
| “Aquatics, Creatures, & Canines”, Margolis Gallery und Houston Center for Photography | |
| 2001 | “Canine”, Clifford-Smith Gallery, Boston, MA | |
| Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA | |
| 2000 | Edward Carter Gallery, Lewes, DE | |
| Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York, NY | |
| 1999 | John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX | |
| New England School of Photography | |
| 1998 | Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC | |
Group Exhibitions
| 2007 | “Betes et Hommes”, Parc de la Villette, Paris, France | |
| | International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY | |
| “Close Relations”, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
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| 2006 | “Going Ape”, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
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| 2003 | “The Art of the Game”, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA | |
| “Visions and Revisions: Art on Paper since 1960”, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA | |
| “Aquatics”, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC | |
| 2002 | “Aquatics”, Paul Kopekin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | |
| 2001 | “Aquatics”, Edward Carter Gallery, New York, NY
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| “Florida Fragments”, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL | |
| Candace Perich Gallery, Katonia, NY | |
| “Honky Tonk”, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA | |
| 2000 | Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
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| “Photography in Boston: 1955-1985”, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA | |
| LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM | |
| "The Future Dog!”, AKC Museum of the Dog, St. Louis, MO | |
| 1999 | Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
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| “Animals Are Funny People”, Keith DeLellis Gallery, New York, NY
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| “Aquatics”, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX | |
| “Boxing”, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | |
| Boston Public Library, Boston, MA | |
| 1997 | “Students of Harry Callahan”, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
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| “10 Artists”, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA | |
| “Photographs We Like”, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY | |
| “Hope: Photographs”, The National Arts Club, New York, NY | |
| 1996 | Elvis Death Week”, Delta Axis, Memphis, TN
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