Laporte, Indiana book signing
with Found Magazine's Jason Bitner
April 27, 2006
 
Images by Frank Pease from Bitner's LaPorte, Indiana
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art will host Found Magazine
co-creator Jason Bitner on Thursday April 27th at 6:00 pm at Intuit,
756 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago.
From the co-founder of Found Magazine and the mind behind Dirty Found magazine
comes the new book LaPorte , Indiana . LaPorte presents a selection from
the 18,000 studio portraits Jason Bitner stumbled upon in the backroom
of a diner in northwestern Indiana. Shot by local, now late, photographer
Frank Pease, the portraits cover a three decade period in LaPorte. Unwittingly,
Pease has become the cultural secretary of LaPorte. His sweetly crafted
photographs have gained an importance beyond that of each individual image.
Also, the book showcases the barely acknowledged modern folk art of studio
portraiture.
LaPorte is a major cultural excavation and an opening into these lives,
into this town, and into the heart of America. As Alex Kotlowitz writes, "Bitner
is the equivalent of a nearsighted archaeologist. He has made 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. To look at these
photographs is to look at a collection of short stories." Visit www.laportebook.com for
more information.
Join Jason at Intuit as he talks about this project and signs copies
of LaPorte, Indiana . Copies of the book are available for purchase at
the Intuit Store.
Cover image of La Porte, Indiana
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