Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York

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 unique 19th and 20th 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.

James and Karla Murray are husband-and-wife architectural and interior photographers and multi-media artists based in New York City.

For the past 25 years they have focused their lens on the streetscape through portraits of storefronts and shop owners and have strived to capture moments of city life that often go undocumented but capture the spirit, energy and cultural diversity of individual neighborhoods. They made it their mission to thoroughly document unique 'mom-and-pop' stores when they began to notice the alarming rate at which the shops were disappearing in their beloved NYC.

Their critically acclaimed books include Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, New York Nights, Store Front II- A History Preserved and Broken Windows-Graffiti NYC. New York Nights was the winner of the prestigious New York Society Library’s 2012 New York City Book Award.

James and Karla Murray’s work has been exhibited widely in major institutions and galleries, including solo exhibitions at the Brooklyn Historical Society, Clic Gallery in New York City, The Storefront Project Gallery in New York City, and Fotogalerie Im Blauen Haus in Munich, Germany and group shows at the New-York Historical Society, Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, CA and Brooklyn Historical Society.

Their photographs are included in the permanent collections of major institutions, including the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the New York Public Library, and NYU Langone Medical Center. Their photography has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, London Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Daily News, New York Magazine and The New Yorker.

James and Karla were awarded the 2015 Regina Kellerman Award by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) in recognition of their significant contribution to the quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. In both 2019, 2018 and 2017, Karla and James were awarded a Creative Engagement Manhattan Arts Grant by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Karla and James received the prestigious Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant in 2018 for their public art installation, Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S. (Lower East Side).

James and Karla live in the East Village of Manhattan with their rescue dog Hudson.