About LaPorte, Indiana

“These are real people. The grace and dignity one sees in their faces should be a source of hope for us all.” 
—John Mellencamp      

FOUND Magazine editor Jason Bitner has made it a habit of picking up after us, walking down the back alleys of our lives, and accumulating all that we've thrown away or mislaid. One afternoon not long ago, after lunch at a small Midwestern diner, he stumbled onto a forgotten archive. In the back of the restaurant were box upon box of studio portraits of the townspeople of LaPorte, Indiana—over 18,000 in total.

Taken over three decades by photographer Frank Pease, the photos marked many important milestones—a sailor in uniform, a graduate in cap and gown, a couple newly engaged—while others simply made modest attempts at posterity. Each in its unique way reveals both a public and private face, a story untold, a secret to reveal. They are brief moments and ones in which people have purposefully posed for the camera. Smiling. Caring. Loving. Pensive. Serious. These are pictures of all of us in a way, reflections in a mirror of the everyday moments and events that define all of our lives. LaPorte, Indiana is a major cultural excavation and an opening into these lives, into this town, and into the heart of our nation.


ISBN 1568985304
6.75 x 8.5 inches
Paperback binding
192 pages
In print
A PA Press publication;
$19.95 £10.99

(photos by Felix Jung)

Comments

[christi]

Just wanted to say how much I love this book. I just posted it on my blog for Des Moines, IA parents, here:
http://smalltownfun.squarespace.com/journal/2007/4/26/the-oxford-project.html

Hope to see you guys on your tours, soon!

Christi

[Janet Wood Kostielney]

I bought the book a year or so ago while having breakfast at BJs. It was such a wonderful surprise to find my Aunt Betty Ramsey Wood, the woman wearing large button earrings and who has such beautiful and soulful eyes. Her photo is the 5th from the last page. I assume that is her engagement photo...

She was married to my father's brother, Warren, but they divorced many years ago. Uncle Warren died perhaps 10 years ago here in LaPorte. Aunt Betty lives in Colorado Springs, CO, where she has been for decades.

My mother, bless her heart, cut my hair in an EXACT replica of Aunt Betty's hair style when I was about 6 years old. I was mortified...and thought the "do" was an error; only after seeing this photo of Aunt Betty did I realize that Mom was styling my hair after my beautiful aunt.

[Wendell]

The photographs presented here are very effective. Jason Bitner has experienced the feeling of people and taken photos are fascinating. When will be the portraits be exhibited?
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Wendell

Indiana Treatment Centers

[Wendell]

The photographs presented here are very effective. Jason Bitner has experienced the feeling of people and taken photos are fascinating. When will be the portraits be exhibited?
---------------------
Wendell

Indiana Treatment Centers