Highlights Archives
The Images of Richard Quinney
"Some of my best times are when I can see clearly through the glass of the viewfinder."
— Richard Quinney
Richard Quinney has spent more than 40 years documenting his life, time and community through photography. Intimately tied to and intrigued by place, the Wisconsin-born photographer, scholar, and writer has written several books that combine autobiographical writing with images of the places he has lived and traveled. His most recent book, Things Once Seen, contains photographs Quinney donated to the Society's permanent collection. These images comprise this month's feature gallery from Wisconsin Historical Images, the Society's online image database.
Born in 1934, Quinney was raised and educated in Wisconsin but left the state and farm life for the city and a career in academics. A well-known sociologist noted for his philosophical approach to criminology, Quinney taught at universities throughout the United States before returning to the Midwest with his wife to explore his home once again.
The author of several books on sociology, criminology and social theory, Quinney has more recently concentrated on books that combine his autobiographical explorations of place and home with photography. These books include Journey to a Far Place, For the Time Being, Borderland, Once Again the Wonder, Where Yet the Sweet Birds Sing, Of Time and Place, and Tales of the Middle Border. Manuscript drafts as well as photographs from several of these books are available in the Society archives.
The photographs in this gallery, from Things Once Seen, are accompanied by his journal notes and record both what Quinney once saw and the life he has lived. Quinney's work was also the subject of a previous image gallery on the construction of the World Trade Center.
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:: Posted March 21, 2008
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