Grab Instantly Store Front: The Disappearing Face Of New York Conceived By James T. Murray Published As Interactive EBook

nostalgic, and a little bit heartbreaking, With so much store signage now having such lacklustre design, it's nice to have a book that gives a retrospect view of the great sign making of yesteryear.
This books shows a time when shop owners took a real pride in the image they want to convey to it's customers, and with so many of these shop fronts disappearing it's good to have a reminder of how good store fronts can be.
View an excerpt in our Januaryissue, sitelink shelfmediagroup. com/staff Wow! There's stores and stores! This is a visual story to be told! I'm not sure how I first learned of this book, someyears ago, but it seemed right up my alley.
Or down my main street, if that's more appropriate, I do remember originally seeing a pricey coffeetable edition, and was thrilled to discover this smallerbutstilldecentsizedandstillhardcoverforgod'ssake version and oh yeah it was cheaper.
For whatever reason, however, it got lost amongst my unread books, shrinkwrap still keeping it warm, and as is often the case, forgotten.


Flash forward to this summer, when I stumbled upon an Instagram account by James and Karla Murray, authors and photographers of the book.
They were promoting an exhibit of their storefront photos in New York City, And I thought, "Hey, I have that book!" With much less difficulty than anticipated, I located it in my apartment, and was soon ripping off that shrinkwrap.


A friend who sometimes asks annoying questions wondered how I was reading a photo book.
But there is much to read here, all of it worthwhile, The book is divided into the five boroughs of New York City, and those sections are further split into neighborhoods.
The Murrays provide us with history of and demographic changes within those boroughs and neighborhoods, Fullpage maps accompany these section beginnings,

Next are chunks of text for many of the featured storefronts, After a short introduction to the business, there is usually a firstperson recollection from the current owner, who is often second, third, or fourthgeneration.
It's a little funny, a little sad, how similar these stories are: "If my grandfather didn't buy this building, we could never afford the rent here.
" "The old customers moved away, but they come back to shop around the holidays, " There are beautiful fullpage photos for each featured storefront, as well as many that aren't written up, Each photo gives the location of the business as well,

Overall, it's a lovely portrait of New York, a city always in flux, old mixing with new, as well as a tribute to so many businesses that are gone and wow, how many more have vanished in the decade since this book appeared and the gorgeous, brokendown, neon, lettersfalling signs that hung out front.
Whenever I leave New York for a week or so the first thing on my return is to walk through my neighborhood in downtown Manhattan and see what's left.
The radical pace of changes doesn't slow down, And sometimes I have to make yet another little mark into my copy of "Store Front" when one of these places is gone forever.


The Murrays have done an incredible job on so many levels: They documented and preserved a vital part of New York that is rapidly changing to the worse.
While New York always was a place of radical change and fast development, this phase in the earlyst century seems to annihilate the city's past and rip out its soul.
The work of Jim and Karla Murray is a most valuable contribution to the city's history, The texts bring each place to life, not only for born and bred New Yorkers, but also for anyone who loves this city and just knows a little bit about it.
The voices of the shop owners make the reader connect with the storefronts in an instant, You might laugh or cry about what you read, but I think that the Murrays did set indeed a new standard in urban documentation because they add so much more.


On another level, Jim amp Karla Murray grabbed the beauty and particular culture of storefront lettering an aesthetic joy in its own and coming from their interest in graffiti culture, it seems to be quite a natural development.
For their follow up title "New York Nights" the Murrays revisit many of these places, just to add the other dimension through nocturnal appearances, bathed in neon and Tungsten lights.
Their photographic style seems to be deadpan in the first place until you start paying attention to more and more details and notice which decisions went into the photographic process.
Jim and Karla Murry understand how to carve out the essence of each of these places, unadulterated by the daily hustle and bustle.


Conclusion: Whether you are a visiting New York lover or a native dweller from the neighborhood, a historian or a font designer, you will find plenty interesting and useful things in these two books.
"Store Font" and "New York Nights" have top shelf places in my ever growing New York book collection, Long live the Lemon Ice King of Corona! Wonderful descriptions of oldtime businesses still operating in NYC, Coverage of the outer boros, which is nice, I love the interviews with the shop owners! I go to New York City abouttimes a year, and it seems I find something new with each visit.
Store Front is a fascinating chronicle of store fronts in the major boroughs mainly pictures, but many of them have interesting back stories by the current store owners.
Some founded the businesses, some took over from parents or grandparents, Some started out paying onlya month in rent, while others have had to close down when rent rose to,a month!

Definitely when I hit the city next I'd love to bring this along as a map to different neighborhoods.
A lot of fun. Now I want to go to New York, My only gripe is the printing is dark and the colors are often oversaturated, Despite that nitpick, this book is an amazing artifact of a quickly disappearing history of unique Mom amp Pop establishments.
This book is chock full of gorgeous and unique storefront signage from around New York, I love all things retro and vintage, and these kind of old signs and storefronts aren't things you can find on Pinterest.
As the face of NYC continues to change, it's so great to have all this inspiration in one book.
I loved the stories the shopkeepers tell about how their families came from the old country and have been running the businesses ever since.
Amazing book full of close up color photos of store fronts throughout New York City, Some are full page others are several to a page and some are fold out panoramic, There are even detailed coinciding maps throughout the book, These are phenomenal photos that really capture the feeling and atmosphere of Manhattan, Reading the book is like a nostalgic stroll through the city, Absolutely wonderful!stars! This is a big, weighty book with several foldout pages so the reader can get an sidewalk feel for the many facades.
Snippets of the business histories and maps

make this a fun one to go through, This is a visual tour so saturated with realism that you can smell the knishes neatly displayed in the window of the Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a visual tour comprised of hundreds of images of uniqueth andth century retail graphics and neon signs still in use and inspiring us to purchase to this very day.
But for how long

Are New York City's local merchants a dying breed or an enduring group of diehards hell bent on retaining the traditions of a glorious past According to Jim and Karla Murray the influx of big box retailers and chain stores pose a serious threat to these humble institutions, and neighborhood modernization and the anonymity it brings are replacing the unique appearance and character of what were once incredibly colorful streets.


Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York is a visual guide to New York City's timeworn storefronts, a collection of powerful images that capture the neighborhood spirit, familiarity, comfort and warmth that these shops once embodied.
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