A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England

technical details about the book's design

About the Book:

Click here for: detailed book specifications

77 duotone images with introduction, essay, foreword, and preface; 128 pages, 9" x 10.5", hardcover with dust jacket. Published by Jetty House, an imprint of Peter E. Randall Publisher.

• Photographs and Introduction by Paul Wainwright
• Essay by Peter Benes, Cofounder and Director of the The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife
• Foreword by Brent Glass, the Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution and a member of the Flight 93 Memorial Commission
• Preface by William Earle Williams, the Audrey A. and John L. Dusseau Professor in the Humanities and Curator of Photography at Haverford College

• Book design: Ed Stevens
• Copyediting: Dale Kuhnert, former Editor of Down East Magazine
• Publicity: Blueline Publicity
• Media Consultant: Bob Holtzman
• Distribution: Enfield Publishing and Distribution
• Marketing Consultant: Mary Virginia Swanson

About the Photographs:

Artist's Statement:

While many of these meetinghouses have been torn down or renovated well beyond their original appearance, the structures included in this book and accompanying exhibition look much as they did when they were first built. I feel a "presence" whenever I am in one of these places - not in a haunting way, but with a sense of wonderment about the people who built and used them. My photographs of these structures are devoid of people, yet to me they are all about our nation’s ancestors, whose lives - the day-to-day joys and cares - are not much different from mine today. Sometimes when I am in one of these meetinghouses I love to sit and contemplate those who came before me. I wonder how many others have had the same experience.

While architectural photographs are usually seen as illustrations of what a structure looks like, this is not my primary intent. Rather, I see beauty and mystery in these meetinghouses. I love the textures of the wood. I am impressed with their regularity and symmetry - they are beautiful in their austerity and simplicity. Perhaps romantically, I suspect these qualities reflect the lives of those who built them. Their religious beliefs were unambiguous and the simple lines of their meetinghouses reflect this.

Thanks:

Support from the following organizations is acknowledged and greatly appreciated.

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