Mitch Epstein
Bio
Mitchell Epstein (born 1952) is an American photographer. His books include Vietnam: A Book of Changes (1997); Family Business (2003), which won the 2004 Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award; Recreation: American Photographs 1973–1988 (2005); Mitch Epstein: Work (2006); American Power (2009); Berlin (2011); New York Arbor (2013); Rocks and Clouds (2018); Sunshine Hotel (2019); In India (2021); and Property Rights (2021). By the mid-1970s, Epstein had abandoned his academic studies and begun to travel, embarking on a photographic exploration of the United States. Ten of the photographs he made during this period were in a 1977 group exhibition at Light Gallery in New York. In 1999, Epstein returned to his hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts, to record the demise of his father’s two businesses—a retail furniture store and a low-rent real estate empire. The resulting project assembled large-format photographs, video, archival materials, interviews and writing by Epstein, the book, Family Business, combined all of these elements.
His Work
As I can’t go over all of his projects, I will go through my personal favourites:
1. Family Business
In the summer of 1999 a couple of bored teenagers set fire to a disused building in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Epstein’s father was the owner and was ruined in the ensuing law suits. Mitch has recreated his father’s universe before it was destroyed in a series of images, both electronic and book-based.
I will be using this book as my main form of inspiration, Epstein discusses his father’s family business and what he does, using stills from interviews, archival material and more. I would like to involve all of these things but if not all then most as I myself am talking about a family business.
2. The City
Having lived and travelled beyond the United States for over a decade, Epstein began to spend more time in New York City. His 1999 series The City investigated the relationship between public and private life in New York.
I am not planning to use this project during my personal study but I like how he explores and photographs normal people in their everyday lives.
