Book: La Porte, Indiana

By Jason Bitner

Last year, Found magazine editor Jason Bitner found two things at B&J's American Café in La Porte, Indiana. The first, a cinnamon roll, lasted for only a moment. But the second led to a project that would obsess Bitner for the next several months: a sign that read, "Find a family member! Photos $.50 each-or $5 a packet." At Found, a magazine dedicated to publishing old photos and long-forgotten letters, Bitner has developed a nose for cultural detritus. When he asked about the photos, he couldn't believe what he had stumbled on: a treasure trove of baby, graduation, wedding pictures and more-a grand total of 18,000 photos.

The photos were from the archive of Muralcraft Studios, a portrait studio that had occupied the floor above the café during the '40s-'60s. The photographer, Frank Pease, passed away in the early '70s, but now, thanks to Bitner, his oeuvre lives on. For months, Bitner sifted through the photos, and the result is La Porte, Indiana, a visual tour through some of Pease's finest work.

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.