BUS-SPOTTING + A STORY marks the launch of the Found Photo Foundation’s Orphan Series. Each work in the series explores a particular approach to publishing the printed material in the FOUND PHOTO FOUNDATION archive.

Orphan #1 BUS-SPOTTING + A STORY is the result of the collaboration between paula roush, artist, publisher and creator of the Found Photo Foundation and Mireille Ribière, author, photographer and scholar.

BUS-SPOTTING + A STORY is a 4-part photo-essay.

Parts 1 and 2 (Bus Ride) comprise a sequence of 32 photographs in the form of twin books, split in images of double and single-decker buses. Far from being static, the collaged sequence suggests a bus ride through past time and spaces. The momentum stems from the varying points of view the constantly changing street scenes, as well as from the way complete and partial images alternate and run on from page to page, leading the reader’s eye back and forth.

Part 3 (A Story) engages with the narrative and fictional potential of found photographs –  a different approach to the material – using  text and image with reference to the genre of photo-romance.

Part 4 (Transport Enthusiasts) elucidates the raison d’être of the overall work, as well as the context in which the photographs were taken, through correspondence with one of the original photographers; additional material such as the  reproduction of the copyright stamps at the back of the prints, as well as a letter dated 1971 between a photographer and a collector further highlight the tangible nature of the collection.

Edited, designed and bound by paula roush

Text by Mireille Ribière, with Colin Stannard

Photographs from the FOUND PHOTO FOUNDATION by Colin Stannard, Douglas F. Parker, G. Mead, J. G. S. Smith, Phil Picken, Robert F. Mack, T.E.S., T. L. Jones, and unknown photographers.

4 separate booklets in a slipcase 108 pages (B&W, duotone and colour) Laser printed on Fabriano 120gsm and 200gsm (slipcase) 21 x 30 cm (Parts 1, 2 ,4) and 14.8 x 21 (Part 3)

Published by msdm 2016 in an edition of 250