“Like a time machine, the photographs in Picturing Utopia carry us back to a wondrous Iowa experiment in creating a kinder, more spiritual way of life. I recommend this book to all who are overwhelmed by the complexities of modern-day living.”--Jon Anderson, Chicago Tribune
“The photographs' subject matter is the stuff of ordinary life: children and adults at work and play, seasonal celebrations, the interiors of old Amana churches, empty schoolhouse benches. Intimate and warm, the text evokes in style and tone the elegiac quality of the photographs. . . . This is a rare glimpse of a 19th-century utopian religious society, which is to say a unique document of a vanished way of life.”--Booklist
“Historians of the Amana Colonies have long been grateful that the leadership of Amana's religious communal society did not strictly enforce its prohibition of photography: the images are essential resources that document our community's past. With its wonderfully rich collection of newly discovered images, Picturing Utopia not only adds to our knowledge of the Amana Colonies' history but also gives us a greater appreciation for the artistic expression of the photographers.”--Lanny Haldy, executive director, Amana Heritage Society