Chris Verene has kept a visual diary of events in the life of his extended family. These photographs span more than two decades of the recent history of Galesburg, Illinois, a small town somewhat representative of the American Midwest.

The images in Family are quirky and colourful. They bring to life some of the most poignant events of Verene's family diary. However, the photographs do not rely on imagery alone as each of them is accompanied by a telling comment. With a square format photograph of a wedding, inclusive of American flag and men with cowboy hats, we find the simple text “Candi's wedding with her two favorite customers from her job at the sirloin stockade ”. In another photograph we meet Eleanor, who is having her hair done at the salon. The notes are both playful and obscure, sometimes giving us a glimpse of the more hidden facts of the local community.

Chris Verene is a photographer and performance artist born in Illinois in 1969. He has published three photobooks: “Chris Verene”, “Camera Club” and “Family”. His work has been widely exhibited in the United States, and is held in the collections of, among others, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He is represented by Postmasters Gallery in New York.