LaPorte, Indiana by Jason Bitner

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)

Heavy in the Streets interview!

DJ-Sorce 1 talked with Jason Bitner and posted an extensive in-depth interview with Jason Bitner on his site (also be sure to check Heavy in the Streets for talks with David Wain, Michael Showalter, Girl Talk and a bunch more...).  Included in the interview is the infamous realease party / Taco Bell / hot tub/ cop story.  Check it out!

Congratulations, Deb Wood!  Deb was cited in the Step Inside Design "State of Design 2007" issue for her work on LaPorte, Indiana and More Than Words (both books published by the endlessly awesome Princeton Architectural Press).  Amongst many accolades, Step's Michelle Taute writes, "These unlabeled photos may never reveal the truth, but the volume's design compellingly invites readers to guess at the answers."  Deb and PAPress deserve every bit of recognition that they receive -- keep up the incredible work!

Click the image below to get the full scoop!

Yesterday, Canada's National Post ran a beautiful feature on LaPorte, Indiana in their "Issues and Ideas" section.  Along with an except from the book, the feature includes LaPorte, Indiana portraits and updates on the subjects' present whereabouts.

To get a big view of the article, click the image below!

Straight from Prague, crazy art/culture magazine Hype ran a review of LaPorte, Indiana in their latest print issue.  If anyone out there wants to take a crack at the Czech, click on the image below.  Many thanks to Pavel Turek, who put the piece together for Hype.

In the new edition of Folk Art Magazine (Winter, 2007) editor Tanya Heinrich sat down with Jason Bitner to chat about LaPorte, Indiana.  Heinrich is a masterful interviewer not so much for her well-framed and interesting inquiries but for the wide knowledge of folk art that she brings to an interview.  And next time you're in New York City, check out the museum behind Folk Art Magazine, The American Folk Art Museum.

To read Bitner and Heinrich's conversation, click the image below:

A while back we told you that Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister of Long Haul Productions crafted a great radio story about LaPorte, Indiana.  We're happy to update that their story will be airing nationally on NPR's Day to Day!

Catch the program the day after Christmas, Tuesday, December 26th.  The LaPorte, Indiana story should be about 40 minutes into the program.  So, as you're playing with all of your new toys, don't forget to have Day to Day playing in the background!

We're in love with quite a few lit-bloggers, but the gals over at BookSlut are certainly some of the best out there.  So, we got excited when we heard that Carrie Jones reviewed LaPorte, Indiana in November non-fiction section!  She's a great reviewer who has a knack for catching the tender moments of a text (check out her BookSlut review archive here), and she did not disappoint with her Laporte, Indiana review.  Here's a taste:

For every unimaginative person who throws away old family photos or who is not captivated by a prom photo blowing in the wind, there are people like Bitner who want to explore the mysteries of our airbrushed pasts and challenge us to make something of the thoughts those documents inspire.

Read the full review here.

We've always totally loved the book spine that designer Deb Wood crafted out of Frank Pease silhouettes.  Nine LaPorte lookers stacked and gazing westward.  So we were psyched to see the LaPorte book used as a prop in the October/November issue of ReadyMade.  Check it there on page 78, illustrating how a book light should illuminate your favorite reads.  Go Deb!

The latest Stop Smiling magazine is their "Ode to the Midwest" issue, and contributing writer Jim Dempsey wrote a glowing review of LaPorte, Indiana in the latest issue.  Dempsey concludes his article by saying:

... these moments are more than tender, they represent a psychological place where vulnerability can dance carelessly, where adoration is encouraged and the perfect smile is effortless.  LaPorte, Indiana is a true collection of hope, revealing through these Midwestern Americans who we are and who we might be.

Check out the full review below.

So, a lot of people have asked us about the annual LaPorte County Fair.  Katie Krentz wrote an insightful piece about LaPorte's exceptional and historic fair for UR Chicago.  Let Katie tell you about a few of her favorite attractions, including the famous demolition derby:

The highlights of the fair are perhaps the demolition derby, extreme motocross and the antique tractor pull. Nothing starts the fair week off like watching old muscle cars go head-to-head with decrepit school busses on a hot Indiana night while guzzling cheap beer from a can. Not all of the horsepower at this fair is fake, however, and the harness racing is a nice way to watch a race and save your hearing at the same time.

Read the online version here.

Be sure to check out the radio show The Speakeasy from WFMU in New York City, where host Dorian Devins and Jason Bitner talk about all things LaPorte, Indiana!

Download the Bitner interview here, and subscribe to The Speakeasy podcast here.

 

Last week, Jesse Thorn interviewed Jason Bitner on his The Sound of Young America radio show on KSFS San Francisco, where they chatted about the LaPorte, Indiana book.  Check out the podcast version of the program here!

Kiera Butler put together an impressive LaPorte, Indiana review for New York Press this week.  Here's a selection from her piece:

Officially, the book has no chapters; it’s just one portrait after another.  But if you look closely, you’ll notice that the book’s greatest strength is its layout.  The arrangement of the photos not only makes sense — it’s hilarious.  Bitner sorted the photos into loose categories.  The celebrity look-alike section includes a Scarlett Johansson, a DeNiro and a Drew Barrymore.  Bitner’s book is more than just a collection of photos—it’s a remarkable portrait of a bygone era in one Midwestern town.

Check out the full New York Press review here.

More exciting news from radio land!  Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister's Long Haul Productions crafted an excellent story about LaPorte, Indiana for National Public Radio (the story ran eariler  on Chicago Public Radio).  Collison and Meister talk to some of the people from the book, including Kathy and Hugh Tonagel, Patty Sallwasser, and more.  Be sure to check out the full mp3 here and listen to some hilarious and touching stories!

The coverage of the LaPorte, Indiana book release party at B & J's American Café continues!  Martha Bayne wrote a wonderful piece about the book and the party in this week's Chicago Reader.  Here's an excerpt where Bayne talks about the book and former LaPortean Pat Orzech remembers sitting for a portrait at Muralcraft Studios:

The La Porte volume is warmer in tone and more conceptually consistent than the Found books, whose sense of slice-of-life discovery is served with a sometimes unsettling dose of voyeuristic glee.  Essentially text free, save for Bitner's introduction and a foreword by Alex Kotlowitz, LaPorte, Indiana is a rich anthology of midcentury hairdos and eyewear, page after page of citizens young and old, dressed for posterity and doing their darnedest to relax.  Pease had operated Muralcraft with his wife, Gladys, who hand-colored prints, ran the office, greeted clients, and helped them with their hair and makeup.  Pat Orzech remembers being really nervous before her graduation photo, but "Gladys and Frank put you at ease," she says.  And though the photos themselves are undistinguished - all have the same natural background, the same unsurprising poses - collectively they convey a lost moment in time.

Read the full article here.

Whitney Matheson has a interesting column over at USAToday.com called Pop Candy, where she goes about "unwrapping pop culture's hip and hidden treasures."  After visiting BookExpo, the massive annual book fair in Washington, DC, she listed some of her favorite books ... including LaPorte, Indiana!  Here's what she had to say:

Found Magazine's Jason Bitner hit the jackpot when he stumbled upon 18,000 old photos of La Porte citizens.  This is the fascinating result - and it even includes John Mellencamp's seal of approval!

See her list here.

Terri Anne Greig wrote another fantastic article on LaPorte, Indiana for Michigan City's The News-Dispatch monthly newspaper, The Local; this time, she covers the book-release party hosted by B&J's American Café.  Greig quotes B&J's co-owner John Pappas, who talks about the book's impact for his diner:

"We're still getting calls from newspapers and radio stations located all over the country," says John Pappas, who owns the restaurant along with his wife, Billie.  "People are still coming in to the diner because they saw the book mentioned on TV or read about it in a newspaper or magazine."

New words about LaPorte, Indiana, this time from the ALA's magazine, Booklist!  Donna Seaman said some great things about us--it's even the official review on amazon.com now!  Check it out:

LaPorte, Indiana also presents a rare and striking collection of portraits meant to preserve memories and serve as tokens of affection. Bitner, cocreator of Found Magazine, an inspired showcase of lost-and-found items, was astonished to find a cache of 18,000 professional black-and-white photographs in the backroom of an Indiana diner. As Kotlowitz notes in his introductory essay, these carefully posed portraits of the townspeople of LaPorte taken during the 1950s and 1960s capture the idealized self-images of middle-class midwesterners. Bitner describes the photographer, Frank Pease, as an "accidental historian." One might also say that Pease created what art critic Michael Kimmelman calls "accidental masterpieces." Certainly, the 200 lustrous portraits of people at every stage of life possess a mesmerizing power, running the gamut from sweet to hilarious, poignant to beautiful.

We're psyched.  Kent Owen reviewed LaPorte, Indiana in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend.  Here's a selection:

...Fortunately, magazine editor Jason Bitner happened upon the stored prints of a LaPorte studio photographer named Fred Pease and, delighted by the hoard he had discovered, assembled this assortment. Though the book yields motifs -- couples, siblings, pearl necklaces, buzz haircuts, bouffant hairdos, horn-rimmed glasses -- the faces appear anonymously, each a souvenir from the 1950s or '60s. Nothing is played for laughs, no postmodern sarcasm at the expense of clueless Hoosiers. The expressions are easygoing and ingenuous, if shaded toward the tentative and diffident. If there was an American look 40 or 50 years ago -- at least one recognizable throughout Middle America -- these faces may be it. Nothing edgy, smirking or brash. But much that is earnest, benign and hopeful.  Nothing edgy, smirking or brash.  But much that is earnest, benign, and hopeful. 

Read the full review here.