Jon Crispin's Notebook

I have learned so much from people who stumble across the project and take the time to comment.  Simon wrote in to say this about the photographs.  “The psychology of keeping belongings is as complicated and as deep as the human spirit itself, the depth of which we will never see. Lets hope recording this project takes us closer.”

Thanks, Simon.  Such a perceptive look at my work with the collection, and I really appreciate your insight.

I had photographed John R’s case over two different days, and yesterday when I edited and uploaded the photographs from the second shoot I was reminded how much fun it was to see what he brought with him to Willard.

He clearly had a thing for the Lone Ranger and Tonto, as well as for these discreetly covered women.

John was clearly learning to speak English, as there were lots of worksheets where he was practicing his vocabulary.

It is possible that John worked for a time at GE as he had these brochures about insurance and a pension plan.

The Mickey Rooney photo is pretty nice.

This is a good time to remind you all about the comments on this site.  It is not obvious where to click to see them, but it usually worth the effort.  At the very bottom of the post is a small “comments” button.  Click it to see what folks are saying.  The dress that I posted last week has been getting quite a few interesting responses, including an amazing one that just came in from my pal Dhyan.  Check it out.