Eric Rhein: Lifelines

Lifelines is Eric Rhein's first monograph, a memoir in images that follows three decades of work made under the shadow of AIDS.

The book brings together photographs from 1989 to 2012, including self-portraits and pictures of friends and lovers from the period of Rhein's HIV diagnosis, a near-fatal illness, and his recovery after new treatments. Alongside them are watercolors, assemblages and wire drawings. These include his continuing project Leaves, an AIDS memorial for more than 300 people. Mark Doty contributes an essay, as does Paul Michael Brown, a former director of Institute 193. Rhein also writes in the book. It is a 112-page hardcover published in 2020 by Institute 193.

Rhein draws on his Kentucky upbringing and on his relationship with his uncle Lige Clarke, a gay rights activist of the 1960s and 1970s.