The things a man once saw (and was): an appreciation of Richard Quinney

Abstract

Richard Quinney ranks among the noted criminologists of the twentieth century, especially among progressives. He is also a photographer of note, drawing on scenes from his native Wisconsin to reflect his deep inner life. Things once seen, published in 2009 by Borderland Books, is a 40‐year retrospective of his photographic work. It is a deeply religious work that celebrates the requirements of life lived by a “radical realism”. In June 2009 Doctor Quinney was presented with the Sullivan–Tifft Vanguard Award at the annual meeting of the Justice Studies Association.

Keywords:

• Richard Quinney
• Things once seen
• Wisconsin
• farmlife
• personal change
• ethnography

Notes

1. An exhibit of Quinney’s photographs “Once Upon An Island: New York Photographs, 1968–1970” will be on display at the Price Tower Art Center, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 13 May to 11 September 2011. See http://pricetower.org/exhibitions/ for details.

2. Since first writing this piece I learned that John Irwin died in January 2010. I had planned to send him a copy of the final version, as I do whenever I mention a person in a somewhat judgmental way. For John’s contribution to criminology see http://www.convictcriminology.org/index.html.

3. The critics Austin T. Turk, Susan Guarino‐Ghezzi, Susan L. Caulfield and Randall G. Shelden met on 8 November 2001. The presentations were published in Contemporary Justice Review, 5(4), 2002.

4. Those interested might like to know there is a Center for the Ethnography of Everyday Life, a sub‐division of The Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan, whose research interests involve “collecting a series of new data sets in the form of ethnographies of daily life initiated in communities and workplaces”. Retrieved January 5, 2010, from http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/research/project-detail/122.

5. As co‐founder and then Editor‐in‐Chief of Contemporary Justice Review for its first 11 years I received and read multitudinous manuscripts, always those being readied as articles for publication. If I may I’ll say that none came in, ever, better prepared and ready to go to press than Richard Quinney’s. When it saw them coming, my blue pencil happily took a holiday.