Read more
In the summer of 1999, two boys barely in their teens were so bored that they started a fire in a boarded-up apartment building in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The fire spread and engulfed an entire city block. Mitch Epstein's father owned the building and was sued for 15 million dollars he didn't have. Epstein's father also owned a once successful furniture store that now faced liquidation. Family Business is an epic work about the demise of a Jewish immigrant dynasty. It traces the fall of a New England town from industrial giant to drug-dealing capital in four chapters: Store, Property, Town, Home. Surprising, hard-hitting and haunting, the book includes photographs, video storyboards and stills, interviews and dialogues. In Family Business, Epstein has invented a unique mixed-media novel. The book's conceptual ambitions are matched by its fearless humanity. This is the 20th anniversary edition of a seminal book, which quickly became a model of complex visual storytelling.
About the author
Mitch Epstein has photographed the landscape and psyche of America for half a century. A pioneer of 1970s color photography, Epstein was inducted into the National Academy of Design and awarded the Prix Pictet, Berlin Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His work has been shown and collected by museums worldwide, including the Tate Modern in London and New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2013 the Walker Art Center commissioned and premiered a theatrical rendition of Epstein’s “American Power” series. His books include American Power (2011), New York Arbor (2013), Property Rights (2021), Silver + Chrome (2022) and Recreation (2022), all published by Steidl. Epstein has also worked in film as director of Dad (2004), and production designer and co-producer for Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Mississippi Masala (1991).
Summary
In the summer of 1999, two boys barely in their teens were so bored that they started a fire in a boarded-up apartment building in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The fire spread and engulfed an entire city block. Mitch Epstein’s father owned the building and was sued for 15 million dollars he didn’t have. Epstein’s father also owned a once successful furniture store that now faced liquidation. Family Business is an epic work about the demise of a Jewish immigrant dynasty. It traces the fall of a New England town from industrial giant to drug-dealing capital in four chapters: Store, Property, Town, Home. Surprising, hard-hitting and haunting, the book includes photographs, video storyboards and stills, interviews and dialogues. In Family Business, Epstein has invented a unique mixed-media novel. The book’s conceptual ambitions are matched by its fearless humanity. This is the 20th anniversary edition of a seminal book, which quickly became a model of complex visual storytelling.
