When I first found FOUND Magazine several years ago, I was absolutely delighted. Every issue is packed with bizarre found stuff like love letters, nasty notes left on cars, to-do lists, homework assignments, doodles, photos, etc. FOUND co-founder Jason Bitner recently found a find so amazing that he created a wonderful book about it. I can’t recommend LaPorte, Indiana highly enough for fans of photography, ephemera, or curiosities. Looking at these anonymous people is deeply moving. From the book’s companion Web site:
For more than thirty years, box upon box of studio portraits sat in the back of a local diner in LaPorte, Indiana. Shelved next to cases of ketchup and mustard, these photographs–all 18,000–marked the town’s most important milestones: births, first communions, graduations, weddings, promotions, anniversaries, and retirements. The photographer, Frank Pease, could not bear to toss them, and they eventually found a home in the back B & J’s American Café, located downstairs from Pease’s studio. There they remained until uncovered by Found Magazine’s Jason Bitner.
