Tonight I will give a 20-minute presentation about my work during the Festival voor Nieuwsfotografie at Museum Hilversum. Other speakers are Henk Wildschut, Marjolein Bijpost and Nicole Segers. The program starts at 19:30. Buy a ticket via this link:

I am super excited that my exhibition Man Next Door, shown last year in the former house of my neighbour Kid, won the Prize voor Storytelling at the national Zilveren Camera Awards. Almost a year ago I temporarily rented the former house of my deceased neighbor Kid before imminent demolition. After weeks of cleaning, organizing and installing, the exhibition opened in June 2021. Photos were alternated with texts and film clips, Kids’ voice was echoing one more time in the corridors and an occasional photo wallpaper took you fifteen years back in time. A small backyard shed - emptied multiple times by police - was temporarily transformed into a cinema. The exhibition welcomed over a thousand people, ranging from family and friends to an international audience. All nominated and winning projects can be seen until April 3, 2022 in Museum Hilversum.

A nice article today in Trouw newspaper by art historian Joke de Wolf in which she links the exhibition Man Next Door to current affairs, in this case the demolition of the Rotterdam Tweebosbuurt.

Wil je de tentoonstelling Man Next Door in de Utrechtse volkswijk Ondiep bezoeken, lees dan via onderstaande link alle benodigde informatie, waaronder de wijze van aanmelding / registratie.

With only four exhibition days left, a full-page article / interview in the local newspaper AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad. Meanwhile, over 250 people have registered for the coming days. There are few places left on Thursday between 2:30 and 4:30 pm. On Saturday, there are few places available after 5 pm. Sunday still offers the most flexibility. If you want to make a reservation, please send an e-mail to tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com with your preferred day and time.

Local internet newspaper DUIC features the exhibition Man Next Door.

On National Radio 1 in conversation with Patrick Lodiers (in Dutch). Please watch/listen the interview via the the link to their website. All time slots for this weekend are gone. You’re welcome to try at the door. Next week Thursday 24 June - Sunday 27 June is last opportunity before demolition. Please send a message via DM or tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com.

Tonight on Radio M Utrecht in conversation with Jeroen Latijnhouwers (in Dutch). You can listen to the interview via the article on their website. There are a few open slots remaining for tomorrow (Thursday), at 15:30, 17:00 and 18:30. Please send a message via DM or tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com.

Local TV station Ondiep made a beautiful item on Man Next Door (in Dutch), the exhibition in the former house of my deceased neighbour Kid. They also included the neighbouring studio sell-out in their coverage. If you would like to book a time slot for the exhibition, please send an email to tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com.

A big thank you to journalist Linda van Mil, photographer Pauline Niks and newspaper De Volkskrant for the beautiful article they published about my entirely DIY exhibition Man Next Door in the former house of my deceased neighbour Kid. The article is written in Dutch. If you want to book a time slot for the exhibition, please email tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com.

Een woning in de Utrechtse volkswijk Ondiep transformeert van een voormalig gebruikerspand tot een tijdelijk Gesamtkunstwerk. Fotograaf Rob Hornstra organiseert de tentoonstelling Man Next Door in het voormalige woonhuis van zijn overleden buurman Kid. Na de tentoonstelling wordt het huis klaar gemaakt voor de sloop om ruimte te maken voor nieuwbouw.

De tentoonstelling Man Next Door aan de Laan van Chartroise 46 in de Utrechtse wijk Ondiep is geopend van vrijdag 11 juni tot en met zondag 27 juni van 12:00 – 20:00 met uitzondering van maandagen, dinsdagen en woensdagen. Aanmelden / registratie verplicht via tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com.

Download het persbericht voor meer informatie.

A house in the Utrecht working-class district Ondiep is transformed from a former drug users’ home into a temporary Gesamtkunstwerk. Photographer Rob Hornstra is organising the exhibition Man Next Door in the former home of his deceased neighbour Kid. After the exhibition, the house is cleared for demolition to make room for new buildings.

The exhibition Man Next Door at Laan van Chartroise 46 in Utrecht is open from Friday, June 11 through Sunday, June 27 from 12:00 - 20:00 except on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Registration is required via tentoonstelling@robhornstra.com

For more information, please download Press Release.

Currently I am working on one of the most exciting exhibitions I have created in my career. After my neighbour Kid - protagonist in Man Next Door - died in 2013, his house was rented by students for several years. The students have left. Soon our housing block will be demolished (I still use the house I used to live in as my studio).

On 11 June the exhibition Man Next Door will open in the house where the work was created. A one time opportunity to transform a former drug house into a gesamtkunstwerk prior to demolition. I am looking for volunteers to be a host / attendant for one day during the exhibition in the periode 11 June - 27 June 2021. In addition to eternal gratitude, you will receive a book Man Next Door as a gift. Please send me an email by clicking on this link.

In the second half of 2021, the house of my former neighbour Kid will be finally demolished. Kid is the protagonist in Man Next Door. I portrayed Kid in his house for years until an abrupt ending in 2013, when his body was found floating between two boats in the Utrecht Singel. In 2017, book and exhibition Man Next Door were launched in the presence of Kid’s relatives and others interested at Centraal Museum in Utrecht. Now - years later - Man Next Door returns to the place where the work originated: Kid’s former house in Ondiep, Utrecht. The exhibition will take place from 4 to 20 June 2021.

Would you like to be kept updated, receive an invitation or press release or sign up as a volunteer (still needed!) for this exhibition? Please send me a message by clicking here.

Rob Hornstra è il sesto autore di questa nuova edizione di ULTRA//THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE. Con Man Next Door esamina la stigmatizzazione della classe operaia di Utrecht offrendo allo stesso tempo una rara visione della vita del suo vicino di casa Kid. Vi aspettiamo il 31 Luglio in Corte Genova a Prato

In the most recent issue of FOAM Magazine, 16 pages are devoted to Man Next Door, the project about my neighbour who - after a turbulent life - drowned in the Utrecht canal in 2013. You can find more about the project under Stories on my website. The link below directs you to the website of Foam Magazine, where you can order single copies.

As most people - like photographers - have to stay at home, the British Journal of Photography has smartly started a series entitled ‘Great works made from home’. Man Next Door, the series about my early deceased neighbour Kid, is featured in the second episode. From the article: ‘For those of us experiencing extended periods of isolation, the project also takes on a new significance, emphasising the importance of checking in on our neighbours and those in need.’

My project Man Next Door has been published over 12 pages in the amazing German Dummy Magazine: “Als ihn Hornstra über jahre immer wieder mit der Kamera besuchte, entstand die Dokumention einer vielschichtigen Persönlichkeit”

Very excited to hear that Man Next Door is announced as one of two Runners-Up in the Fotofilmic Solo VI Exhibition Award. Congrats to the award winner Matthew Barbarino!

From 22 to 28 October 2018 I will take over the Instagram account from Photocaptionist. In 21 posts I will tell the story Man Next Door, with backgrounds that have never been highlighted before.

Three months ago, the book Man Next Door was launched during the opening of the exhibition of the same project at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. It was a great kick off in the presence of many friends and family of my former neighbour Kid, the protagonist of the project. Since its launch, many media have paid attention to the work, from local television to national radio and international magazines. Newspapers such as De Volkskrant and Libération selected the book among their favourite photo books 2017. The book stock is running at its end and the exhibition is almost over. Only one more week, to be seen until 4 March in the Centraal Museum Utrecht.

On Tuesday 13 February 2018 Pakhuis De Zwijger in Amsterdam organizes the live talk show Fotokroniek, focusing on contemporary documentary photography and storytelling through photo books. Guest are Donald Weber, Eddo Hartmann and Rob Hornstra.

Exhibition review in Dutch daily newspaper NRC: “Hornstra documented their close relationship and decided not to create a sentimental monument after Kid’s death. His life was not adequate for this due to its enormous sadness. Instead he gave him a great, dignified salute. In the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, this salute - Man Next Door - can now be seen in all its objective sensitivity.”

Article on Man Next Door featured on It’s Nice That: “Designed as both a publication and a scrolling timeline on Rob’s website, the photographs categorise his time spent with Kid from 2007 until his unfortunate passing in 2013. While some of Rob’s photographs are difficult to look at upon learning the full story of Kid’s unsettled life, being shocking never appears to be the aim. Instead, the subtle hints at someone unstable make you think about how easily life can spiral downwards from one misunderstanding or mistake.”

Book review by Joerg Colberg at Conscientious Photography Magazine: “Whatever you might want to say about Kid, he was a man in need, and when society was unable to provide for those needs, there was not going to be a happy ending. Seen that way, Man Next Door amplifies the humanism that underlies all of Rob’s work, a humanism a bit masked by the style of photography and the intensely smart storytelling, with its many different devices.”

Man Next Door chosen by French newspaper Libération amongst ten best photobooks of 2017. Please check out the link to view the full selection: “Sous les motifs d’accusation, se dessine alors un portrait tout en bosses, en bleus, en désespoir et en fantaisie. Il montre une autre facette des Pays-Bas, souvent perçus comme une vitrine de réussite sociale.”

I am very honoured that Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant has chosen Man Next Door as one of the best photo books of 2017. Please click on the link below to find the other selected titles.

Article written by Mark Moorman in Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant: How the addicted neighbour of photographer Rob Hornstra became his subject.

Interview / article on Dutch VICE Creators: ‘In 2013 Kids dead body was found in a canal in Utrecht, but in the project Man Next Door he lives on with a wonderful message.’

Group photo in front of the giant snake wallpaper of (part of) friends and family who were present last Friday at the official opening and book launch of ‘Man Next Door’; a story about a typical Utrecht working class man. All of them received a free copy of the Family and Friends Edition, made possible by sixty people who pre-bought this edition last summer for a double price (paying for two copies). Thanks to all family and friends, thanks to all pre-buyers and thanks to the Centraal Museum for making this happen!

RTV Utrecht made a report on the opening of my new exhibition Man Next Door and broadcast the report in the 6 pm. news. You can scroll a little forward, it is the last item in the broadcast.

LIMITED TIME PRINT OFFER: This exclusive handmade analogue c-print (36 x 42 cm / 14.2 x 16.5 in) of Kids house pet on his bed is temporarily available for only 145 euros excluding framing and shipping. This offer runs until 31 December 2017. The number of buyers determines the print run, up to a maximum of 25.

My neighbour Kid – the subject of my new project Man Next Door – was a huge animal lover. He lost his beloved pit bull after it viciously attacked someone and had to be put down. When his wife left him, he stayed on in the house with his other great loves: two ball pythons named Kleintje and Pikachu. The snakes only needed food every 40 days. He usually fed them in their terrarium, but he also liked letting them loose on his sofa or bed where, if it was feeding time, he gave them live mice and rats. Kid never felt sorry for the rat: “Basically, he presses him to death immediately. More or less.”

Radio reporter Inge ter Schure came to Ondiep to talk about my new project Man Next Door. Beautiful item broadcasted in the VPRO radio program ‘Nooit Meer Slapen’.

Interview together with Kids sister Miep and his brother Reinier in the light of tomorrow’s book launch and exhibition opening Man Next Door at Centraal Museum in Utrecht.

In addition to my own online shop, Man Next Door is currently also available in the following specialised bookshops (this list will be updated regularly):

AUSTRIA

• Bookshop Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna

BELGIUM

• FoMu Shop, Antwerp

FINLAND

• Luova.fi, Helsinki

FRANCE

• L’Ascenseur Végétal, Bordeaux

GERMANY

• Café Lehmitz, Köln
• Kominek Books, Berlin

INDONESIA

• Unobtainium, Bandung (online only)

ITALY

• Leporello, Roma
• Micamera Bookstore, Milano

NETHERLANDS

• FOAM, Amsterdam
• Huis Marseille, Amsterdam
• Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
• Photoq Bookshop, Amsterdam
• Boekhandel Hijman Ongerijmd, Arnhem
• Aleph Books, Utrecht
• Broese Boekverkopers, Utrecht
• Centraal Museum, Utrecht
• FOTODOK, Utrecht
• Steven Sterk, Utrecht
• Westerhof Boeken, Zwolle

UNITED KINGDOM

• Photobookstore.co.uk (online only)

POLAND

• PIX.HOUSE, Poznan

PORTUGAL

• Photobook Corner (online only)

SPAIN

• Dispara, Pontevedra

US

• photo-eye books, Santa-Fe (online only)
• Printed Matter, New York

Together with Donald Weber we will be signing our new books Man Next Door and War Sand on Thursday, 9 November at 19:00 onboard the Polycopies bateau! Please join us during the Polycopies Book Fair. Our table is located on the lower deck, where throughout the weekend we’ll be offering free drinks and discounts.

I have just returned from Kaunas (Lithuania) where my book Man Next Door was printed. It is difficult to put into words how incredibly amazing it is to see years of work falling totally into place in a publication. Making a book is a wonderful yet exhausting process of endless decisions about editing, design, fonts, colors, papers, endpapers, head- and tail bands and endless more details that seem unimportant but can make or break a book at the end. I am incredibly happy with the modest and subtle design of -Syb- and the determined lithography and printing supervision of Colour & Books. Of course, many thanks to the large group of people who have already bought the book in advance. That too is desperately needed in order to be able to pay all invoices on time.

The pre-sale of my new book Man Next Door has started. Until the launch on 1 December 2017, the book can be ordered for the discount price of 35 euros. Shipping of the book will start in the second half of November. Please follow my Instagram account for a sneak peak of Man Next Door.

For over ten years I have been working on Man Next Door, a new project that examines the stigmatisation of the working class while offering a rare insight into the life of a working-class Utrecht boy. I am very happy to announce that Man Next Door will be exhibited from December 2, 2017 until March 25, 3018 at the best conceivable place for this work: the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. Opening plus book launch will take place on Friday, December 1, 2017 at 3 pm. A pre-launch of the book might be organized during Paris Photo (if planning allows).

In order to be able to share free copies of the book Man Next Door to family and friends of Kid, I ask for your help. By purchasing a numbered copy (1-60) of the Family and Friends Edition with special dust jacket, you fund one extra copy that will be given free of charge to family and friends of Kid during opening of the exhibition in Centraal Museum. This way, you make it possible that all friends and family members can receive a free copy. As a thank you, your name will be mentioned in the colophon of the book.