In the new edition of Folk Art Magazine (Winter, 2007) editor Tanya Heinrich sat down with Jason Bitner to chat about FOUND, the upcoming book of FOUND Polaroids, and Bitner’s 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:

It’s update time, people - there’s tons of stuff going on with Jason Bitner’s LaPorte, Indiana, his collection of found portraits by Frank Pease. First off, there was a release party at B&J’s American Cafe, where Jason found 18,000 of Pease’s portraits. Tons of people headed out to celebrate the Pease portraits– even LaPorte’s mayor Leigh Morris dropped by! You can check out photos from the release at the LaPorte, Indiana website LaPortebook.com.So we asked a couple of great radio producers (Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister) to help us track down some of the people from the book and they’ve just finished up a great audio documentary about the book– The piece recently aired on Chicago Public Radio– feel free to listen to or download the audio from WBEZ’s 848.LaPorte’s local newspaper, the Herald-Argus, also ran a bunch photos from the book and we started discovering who is in each of the photos and where they are today. It’s mind-blowing, and by far the coolest part about the project - learning the stories behind the people in the portraits, and getting a sense of what it was like growing up in LaPorte in the 50s and 60s. So, we’ve got a section on the LaPorte website called “Where Are They Now?” where you can check out all of the people who are reconnecting with their old portraits. Here are a few of our favorites …

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“The condom made a mistake and broke”
–the full text of a handwritten note FOUND by Olisa Corcoran in Durham, NC
——————————–

It’s a book!
2 lbs. 8 oz.
256 pages
Born today - May 2, 2006

Well, we’re not sure whose mistake it was - ours, yours, or the broken condom - but we’re celebrating like crazy today because the FOUND II book has just been born! Time to light up a cigar!

We are so excited about this book and so grateful to all you finders who are this book’s proud parents. Not to play favorites, but we’ve received so many absolutely stunning and incredible finds from all of you over the past couple of years, we can say positively that this 2nd FOUND book is even more wonderful than the 1st! It’s 226 pages of brand-new finds that have never been printed anywhere before, and 30 pages of all-time favorites from recent issues of the magazine.

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Just an excited reminder about Jason Bitner’s soon-to-be-published (aka April 18th) book of found portraits, LaPorte, Indiana. If you have any interest in any of the following, you should give it a look. More info at LaPortebook.com.

. If you have any interest in any of the following, you should give it a look. More info at .1) Men and Women
2) Amazing portraits
3) 1950s and 1960s US culture
4) Found stuff
5) LaPorte, Indiana
6) The Midwest
6) Beauty, surprise, and cinnamon rolls

A whole lot of sweat and love went into this book, the good folks at Princeton Architectural Press did an amazing job with it, and we can’t wait for you to hold it and keep it under your pillow. Come take a peek!

UPDATE! We’re now on MySpace– show us your love!