One Place

“This impressive career-spanning collection of over 200 black-and-white photos . . . includes generous excerpts from Kwilecki’s thoughtful writing. . . . He gives dignity and grace to the predominantly working-class community.” — Publishers Weekly

“One of the best and most important books to come from the South, ever.” — Clyde Edgerton, Garden & Gun

“Remarkable. . . . [Kwilecki’s] extraordinary gifts are given an overdue viewing here. . . . Containing abundant memorable images by what can justifiably be called an undiscovered master, interspersed with his own eloquent writing, this is an irresistible book. Kwilecki was a picture maker who compelled his viewers to know whom he knew, and succeeded at it. A gift to all lovers of great photography, this book deserves a place in most if not all collections.” — Library Journal starred review

“The most comprehensive publication of . . . [Kwilecki’s] prints and writings to date.” — Jrnl of Southern History

“I rearrange sacred furniture. Because my brain, not my camera, is my instrument, beauty isn’t enough. I'm looking at subject, not at the surface of the print, though I'm grateful when the surface turns out to be beautiful.” — Paul Kwilecki

“As full of riches as Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, Kwilecki’s sustained portrayal of Decatur County is an American classic.” — Alec Soth, photographer and author of From Here to There: Alec Soth’s America

“A masterful visual drama of life in the South. Gesture is critical to Kwilecki’s eye, revealing his love for humanity.” — Deborah Willis, author of Posing Beauty and Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers

“An epic of ghostly ordinariness.” — Roy Blount Jr., author of Long Time Leaving

“Once you've seen these photographs, you can’t forget the places or the people. Until now, Kwilecki’s intensely personal and highly developed skill of recognition has gone unnoticed. That changes forever with the publication of this book.” — Julian Cox, founding curator of photography and chief curator, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

“One Place is a deep reflection on one artist’s tilling of the soil at the heart of home. But mostly, Paul Kwilecki’s words and images are about time, what lasts, what doesn’t. Here, we find Kwilecki’s fellow sojourners in time, and Decatur County: black and white, young and old, workers and storeowners and shoppers, preachers and prisoners. People inhabiting the place they share — the place they began, the place they will end.” — Natasha Trethewey, U.S. Poet Laureate and author of Thrall