Henry Horenstein: Close Relations

In Close Relations, noted photographer Henry Horenstein presents his earliest photographs, made from 1970 to 1973: a collection of portraits of family and friends, landscapes, and period imagery. These photographs describe a time familiar to everyone, when one moves from adolescence to adulthood, remaining as part of a family while beginning to create a network of one’s own. Horenstein’s close relations were classic American Dreamers: homeowners with 2.5 kids and a series of dogs—in this case, all named Chamie. Horenstein documented his friends—known around town as Hot Dot and Fast Fred—and their circle of stylish, turn-of-the-seventies friends. As a history student in the late 1960s, Horenstein learned the importance of preserving the present to create a record for the future. As he took up photography, he carried these lessons with him. In Close Relations, Horenstein offers us a warm and quirky look at his personal history, and at that of a particular place and time.