Object Details
- Horenstein, Henry
- Description
- Henry Horenstein (1948-) trained in history in the late 1960s at the University of Chicago and with the British historian EP Thompson. Coming of age at time when the new social history focused attention upon anonymous people, the working class and the role of culture, Horenstein took those lessons and applied them to his photography. He earned an MFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1973. While at RISD Horenstein studied with noted photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. It was actually Callahan who encouraged Horenstein to pursue his passions for photography and country music. Since then, Horenstein has made a career of chronicling a series of subcultures including horse-racing and gambling, baseball stadiums, and burlesque performers, as well as being noted for his photographs of animals.
- Horenstein is currently a professor at RISD. In addition to teaching classes, he is an active photographer always working on photographic and publishing projects. Horenstein is well-published, with over 25 books that either feature his photography or are widely used photography text books. He wrote the first darkroom textbooks, Basic Phtography and Beyond Basic Photgraphy. In Fall 2003, his book Honky-Tonk was published, containing an afterword written by NMAH curator Charlie McGovern. In 2006, NMAH featured the exhibition, Honky-Tonk: Country Music Photographs by Henry Horenstein, 1972-1981.
- The collection consists of subjects such as fans and performers at outdoor music parks, in the parking lot, and performers on stage. Print sizes vary between 8 X 10 and 11X 14. The two 16 X 20 prints are a view of a crowd seen from backstage with JD Crowe & The South in sillouette, and “Bartender,” Wanda Lohnman leaning on the bar at Tootsies Orchid Lounge.
- List of Performers and Venues Depicted in the Collection:
- Venues:
- Fred’s Lounge in Mamou, LA
- The Lonestar Ranch, Reed’s Ferry, NH
- Hillbilly Ranch, Boston, MA
- Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in Nashville, TN;
- The Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Theater, Nashville, TN.
- Performers:
- Abshire Nathan
- Acuff, Roy
- Akeman, David “Stringbean”
- Bailey, Deford
- Bare, Bobby
- Bird, Billy
- Blake, Norman
- Blue Sky Boys
- Brown, Clarence "Gatemouth"
- Burns, Jethro
- Butler, Carl and Pearl
- Carter, Anita
- Carter, Mother Maybelle and Helen Carter
- Cash, Tommy
- Clements, Vassar
- Cline, Curly Ray
- Cooper, Carol Lee
- Cooper, Stoney and Wilma Lee
- Crook Brothers
- Curless, Dick
- Dickens, Little Jimmy
- Flatt, Lester
- Floyd, Hamonica Frank
- Harkreader, Fiddlin' Sid
- Harris, Emmy Lou
- Holcomb, Roscoe
- Holy Modal Rounders
- Hughes Family Show
- Jackson, Stonewall
- JD Crowe & the New South
- Jennings, Waylon
- Johnson Mountain Boys
- Jones, George
- Jones, Grandpa and Ramona
- Kirby, Brother Oswald
- Lewis, Jerry Lee
- Lilly Brothers
- Lilly Family
- Lynn, Loretta
- Magaha, Mac
- Martin, Jimmy
- McCoury, Del
- Monroe, Bill
- Monroe, Bill and Lester Flatt
- Monroe, Bill and Roland White
- Monroe, Bill and the Bluegrass Boys
- Monroe, Charlie
- Moody, Clyde
- Nixon, Charlie
- Osborne Brothers
- Parton, Dolly
- Parton, Dolly and Porter Wagoner
- Pearl, Minnie (Sarah Ophelia Colley) and Peewee King
- Riley, Jeannie C.
- Ritter, Woodward Maurice “Tex”
- Seeger, Pete
- Shepherd, Jean
- Skaggs, Ricky
- Smith, Connie
- Snow, Hank
- Snow, Rev. Jimmy Rodgers
- Stanley, Ralph
- Tubb, Ernest
- Tubb, Justin
- Turner, Grant
- Turner, Spyder
- Val, Joe
- Wagoner, Porter
- Warren, Paul
- Watson, Arthel Lane “Doc”
- Watson, Merle
- Wells, Muriel Deason “Kitty”
- Whitley, Keith
- Williams, Hank Jr.
- Wright, Johnny
- 1971 - 1983
- ID Number
- COLL.PHOTOS.000036
- Object Name
- Henry Horenstein Collection
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Photographic History
- Music & Musical Instruments
- Cultures & Communities
- Photography
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1342044
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-692e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
