Family Find a Stunning Album of Lost Photos of 1950s New York

“As I began unsealing each packet and holding the negatives up to the light, it was like a trip back in time, back to the New York of the early ’50s.”

– Soren Larson finds his grandfather’s pictures of 1950s New York 

 

When Frank Larson passed away in 1964, his wife Eleanora packed their belongings and moved out of their retirement home in Lakeville, Connecticut. Among the bags was a box of negatives, pictures Frank had taken in 1950s New York City.

And there they remained for five decades until Frank’s daughter-in-law, Carole Larson, found them among. Her son, Soren, takes up the story:

“I had seen a few examples of my grandfather’s photography over the years and always admired them – our old family photo albums have a few small prints of his work in them. My father also used to speak with admiration about his father’s love of photography and his weekend trips with his Rolleiflex into the city to film places like the Bowery, Chinatown and Times Square.

“But when I opened the box and began to explore what was inside, I was truly shocked at the quality and range of the images, as well as the effort, dedication and love he brought to the task. When Frank died in 1964, I was only three years old and too young to remember this gentle, caring man.”

Inside the box were more than 100 envelopes filled with mostly medium-format, 2 1/4″ x 2 1/4″ negatives. Each packet was marked by date and location.

Following the discovery, Soren built a website dedicated to his grandfather. You can see more at www.franklarsonphotos.com.