Things Once Seen

by Richard Quinney

This retrospective of photographs spans a period of forty years. Each photograph, each act of photographing, has been an attempt to stop time, to capture what is happening in the moment, and to preserve the moment for posterity. The photographer frames the subject and gives witness to an order in the universe. But the photographer knows that, as Henri Cartier-Bresson has reminded us, nothing can really bring back the moment of things fixed in the photograph. And nothing can bring back that moment in the life of the photographer. In the wisdom of Buddhism, “all things are impermanent.” Photographs are a reminder of the impermanence of all things. But what the photographer once saw and caught on film may be given another life when others see the photographs. For the photographer, the act of photographing has been an intimate part of the process of living a life. This body of work, accompanied by journal notes, is a record of what the photographer once saw, and is a window to the life once lived.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Richard Quinney is an American sociologist, writer, and photographer known for his philosophical and critical approach to crime and social justice.