Store Front NYC: Photographs of the City's Independent Shops, Past and Present
I would've given Store Front NYC: Photographs of the City's Independent Shops, Past and Present by James Murray and Karla Murray four stars instead of three if not for something that drove me weirdly crazy. In the Introduction, the Murrays say that some of the stores represented here no longer exist... but don't say which those are. Some of them I already knew from being familiar with local NYC news or being familiar with that area but the others I didn't know, and didn't know if I should assume that the older photographs are for stores that no longer exist or not.
The photos are great, and the documentation of unfortunately vanishing sign styles and independent, non-franchise shops is much appreciated by me.
Unlike their previous Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York though, this book doesn't include history or personal testimonials of individual stores, and I kind of missed that. Unfortunately, once again, Queens is deeply underrepresented.
The photos are great, and the documentation of unfortunately vanishing sign styles and independent, non-franchise shops is much appreciated by me.
Unlike their previous Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York though, this book doesn't include history or personal testimonials of individual stores, and I kind of missed that. Unfortunately, once again, Queens is deeply underrepresented.