MORMON DISCOVERY
While there have long been suspicions that a photo of Joseph Smith Jr, the founder of Mormonism, might exist, none had ever been found. That changed in 2020 when Dan Larsen, 79, a great-great-grandson of Smith, decided to make use of the pandemic lockdown to sort through old boxes of family artefacts. One of these items was a locket resembling a pocket watch that Larsen had inherited from his mother in 1992. He had never opened it because of a bent finial, but now, with some time on his hands, he decided to make the effort, expectingFoster, a pioneer photographer and early Mormon who at one point rented a room in Smith’s home, and that it was most likely taken in May or June 1844. Larsen was struck by the charisma shown by the face in the photo. “If you look at the picture, and those eyes, it’s mesmerising”, he said.
