Sebastian Van Alder

The family archive

Sightings

Photographs in which someone has found Sebastian. They span more than sixty years. He is thirty-six in every one of them.

“I don’t recall those evenings.”

Close detail of Sebastian behind candlelight in a 1958 photograph
Detail.VA-S-001

Four photographs, in order of date

A crowd on the opening day of Grand Central Terminal in 1913. In the middle of it, a man identical to Sebastian looks straight into the camera.
Grand Central Terminal, opening day. February 1913.VA-S-002 · Source unknown
Panicked men crowd Wall Street during the 1929 crash. At the front, a man identical to Sebastian stands calm with his cane, looking into the camera.
Wall Street. October 1929.VA-S-003 · Found in a broker’s estate sale
A 1958 dinner party around a long candlelit table. At the head of the table, a man identical to Sebastian looks into the camera.
Dinner, East Seventieth Street. March 1958.VA-S-001 · See the detail
A crowded 1977 disco dance floor. At its edge, a man identical to Sebastian in a tweed jacket stands still and unamused, looking into the camera.
A discotheque on West Fifty-Fourth Street. April 1977.VA-S-004 · He did not stay long

The photographs in this archive were made with AI.

Submitted by the public

Have you seen this man?

If you find him in a photograph, post it with #VanAlderSighting and tag @sebastianvanalder. The family keeps a record of every sighting.

How to draw him correctly