When Frank Larson died on a visit to New York City to see the World’s Fair 1964, he left behind thousands of negatives. Working as an auditor in Queens, Frank would take a break from the daily grind to photograph the streets as he walked the world’s most vibrant city. Frank developed and printed all his photos in a darkroom in his basement, and entered some of them in local amateur photographic competitions. In 2014, the widow of Frank’s younger of two sons found “the family shutterbug’s” treasure trove in her attic. Her son Soren Larson developed some of the negatives, and brought them to the Queens Museum of Art, where they are currently on show.
None of these extraordinary pictures were published in Frank’s lifetime.

Two parade officials watch New York’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade pass by on Fifth Avenue as one of them sneaks a cigarette break.

A street performer promotes the film “Johnny Guitar” on the sidewalks of Times Square in Spring, 1954.

A group of businessmen huddle together at the window of the Associated Press office at Rockefeller Center to read the latest news, 1955.

A woman suns herself outside the entrance to the New York Public Library in 1955 in this photo, called “Lady and the Lion.”