JAMES AND KARLA MURRAY PHOTOGRAPHY

After 35 years, Zig Zag Records is closed.

Right: Stan Bleend, Owner with STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face Of New York

between Chrystie and Bowery, not that long ago

“Wilson Tang (Owner of NOM WAH TEA PARLOR) loves the book “STORE FRONT: THE DISAPPEARING FACE OF NEW YORK” by James T. & Karla L. Murray (Gingko Press.) A photograph of NOM WAH TEA PARLOR.”

Thanks to SHIRLEY DLUGINSKY(click name for IMDb page), SAG/AFTRA Actress/Photographer for this awesome pic of Wilson Tang (Owner of NOM WAH TEA PARLOR).

Also check out some of Shirley’s photography work that is featured in the excellent The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur by Eric Ferrara.

http://www.ilpost.it/2011/05/23/i-vecchi-negozi-di-new-york/

Translation: “There is a face of New York that is disappearing, as it happens slowly in each city is the old stores and shops, which for decades have characterized our urban landscape and now, crushed by a market that does not include the little shop corner, inevitably fail or close. James and Karla Murray have them photographed and the images were then collected in a book that is an excellent example of urban reportage: STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York.

Today, we will be interviewed by George Bodarky on NPR Affiliate 90.7 FM WFUV’s Cityscape program about our book, “STORE FRONT-The Disappearing Face of New York,” which will air at a later date. We will send you the info on the air date and podcast download as soon as it is available. For more info on WFUV.org Cityscape program: http://www.wfuv.org/programs/cityscape

Cityscape | WFUV Radio

www.wfuv.org

Read the full review here:

http://ppad.blogspot.com/2011/05/photobook-review-james-and-karla-murray.html

“If you are at all interested in what’s happening to New York or any urban landscape, pick up Store Front, and a Gem Spa egg cream, while you can.”

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/05/the-disappearing-face-of-new-york/

‘During the eight years it took James and Karla Murray to complete this project, one third of the stored they featured have closed’- Newsweek

 http://driftwood.librodenotas.com/libros2011/757/15-store-front-the-disappearing-face-of-new-york

Translation:

Store Front: The disappearing face of New York Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York

James T. James T. and Karla L. and Karla L. Murray Murray
Gingko Press Inc. Gingko Press Inc.
Web de la editorial Web publishing
Web de los autores Web authors

James y Karla Murray son una pareja de fotógrafos urbanos que decidieron retratar estas sociedades desde un punto de vista diferente al de las fotos de paseantes o de arquitectura, y se centraron en aspectos a priori menos llamativos de la vida cotidiana en una gran ciudad como Nueva York. James and Karla Murray is a pair of urban photographers decided to capture these companies from a viewpoint different from the pictures of passers-by or architecture, and focused on a priori less conspicuous aspects of daily life in a big city like New York. En 2007 publicaron el libro Store Front: The Disappearing face of New York , un monumental compedio de frontales de comercios de barrio (las llamadas familiarmente “Mom & Pop stores”) que permanecían en la ciudad como parte indiscutible del paisaje. In 2007 published the book Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, a monumental compendium of neighborhood shops front (familiarly calls “Mom & Pop stores”) that remained in the city as an undeniable part of the landscape. Durante varios meses recorrieron los cinco distritos de Nueva York (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island) fotografiando las entradas de los locales y recogiendo las historias que acompañaban a la fundación y supervivencia de cada tienda o cada restaurante. For several months, toured the five boroughs of New York (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island) photographing the building entrances and gathering the stories that accompanied the founding and survival of each individual store or restaurant.

El resultado es un retrato casi perfecto de una de las ciudades más cambiantes de los Estados Unidos y, posiblemente, de todo el mundo, visto a través de quienes han crecido y vivido con ella, recogido en un libro emotivo pero sin caer el lo plañidero, aunque sí con cierto regusto a denuncia ante los efectos nada secundarios del proceso llamado gentrificación ; algo relativamente nuevo en nuestras ciudades europeas (en Madrid empiezan a conocer sus desagradables consecuencias), pero que en la ciudad de los rascacielos lleva décadas formando parte de su razón de existir. The result is an almost perfect portrait of the changing cities in the United States and possibly around the world as seen through those who have grown up and lived with her, collected in a book without being emotional but the plaintive as , although with some taste to report any side effects to the process called gentrification, something relatively new in European cities (Madrid begin to know its unpleasant consequences), but in the Big Apple has for decades been part of its reason to exist. Cierto es que el proceso se aceleró con las políticas de Rudolf Giuliani y Michael Bloomberg, quizá hasta un extremo ya irreversible. It is true that the process was accelerated with the policies of Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, perhaps to an extreme and irreversible.

Porque cuando uno lee las breves palabras que los autores recogen de los actuales propietarios de los negocios, se da cuenta de que existen muchos puntos en común para que un local perviviera o desapareciese; fundamentalmente el desaforado crecimiento del precio de los alquileres (la mayoría de los comerciantes del libro que han conseguido sobrevivir adquirieron en algún momento el edificio donde tienen el local), pero también crecientes normativas e impuestos municipales que acaban resultando insostenibles en forma de tasas y multas para propietarios cuyo único “pecado” ha sido tratar de mantener su negocio como quieren sus clientes. Because when you read the few words that the authors collected from current business owners, you realize that there are many points in common for a local survive or disappear, mainly the unbridled growth in rents (most book merchants have managed to survive at some point acquired the building where they have local), but also increased local taxes and regulations that have just proved unsustainable in the form of fees and fines to owners whose only “sin” has been to maintain business as their customers want. Hay casos tan absurdos como tener un letrero de neón, que obliga a pagar una tasa (nada barata), aunque el letrero no funcione porque tenga las luces rotas y su dueño decida no arreglarlas por el coste que le supone. There are cases as absurd as having a neon sign, which requires paying a fee (not cheap), but the sign would not work because all lights are broken and the owner decides not to fix the cost it entails. Cada comercio es un mundo, desde luego, pero las historias acaban siendo muy parecidas entre sí. Every business is different, of course, but the stories end up being very similar to each other.

El volumen se divide en cinco capítulos, uno por cada distrito. The volume is divided into five chapters, one for each district. El más grande de ellos está dedicado a Manhattan, seguido a distancia por Brooklyn, quizá porque son los que más fama tienen, y sorprende que se ocupe tan poco de Queens, de largo el borough más grande de la ciudad. The largest of these is devoted to Manhattan, followed distantly by Brooklyn, perhaps because they have the most fame and surprising that there was so little of Queens, by far the largest borough of the city. Cada capítulo contiene varias secciones, una por cada barrio fotografiado, que en el caso de Manhattan van de Sur a Norte, empezando por el Lower East Side y terminando en Harlem. Each chapter contains several sections, one for each district photographed, in the case of Manhattan going from south to north, starting with the Lower East Side and ending in Harlem. En la cabecera de cada capítulo y sección, unas breves líneas nos situan a los barrios geográficamente y dan una pequeña historia de la evolución demográfica de éstos. At the head of each chapter and section, a few lines to the neighborhoods we are situated geographically and give a little history of their demographic. Luego vienen las fotos de los comercios, a veces con los dueños posando junto a ellos, y se escogen algunos para incluir comentarios de sus propietarios o de sus gestores, en los que cuentan cuándo se hicieron con el negocio, bajo qué circunstancias, a qué se dedican y cuál sería su situación actual. Then come the pictures of the shops, sometimes with the owners posing next to them, and some choose to include comments from its owners or its management, in which count when made to business, under what circumstances, what they do and what his current situation. Todo en muy pocas palabras, pero suficientes para comprender el significado que tienen para ellos el lugar donde forjaron su vida. All in very few words, but enough to understand the meaning for them where they forged their life. La mayor parte de los comercios son empresas familiares cuyos dueños lo son ya de segunda o tercera generación, y especialmente en la rama de alimentación se muestran muy orgullosos de los productos que venden, en su mayoría elaborados en la propia tienda. Most businesses are family businesses whose owners are already second or third generation, and especially in the food industry are very proud of the products they sell, in its most developed in the store.

El libro tiene la gran virtud, además, de que huye de lo pintoresco y de lo exótico, sino que muestra una realidad; limitada, eso sí, a una fachada y unos pocos metros de acera, pero realidad al fin y al cabo, fuera de la representación “chic” y esnob del neoyorkinismo de las series de televisión. The book has the great virtue, moreover, that run from the picturesque and exotic, but shows a reality, limited, yes, a facade and a few feet of sidewalk, but actually the end of the outside representation chic and snobbish New Yorkers of the television series. Es, por supuesto, una obra esencialmente gráfica con fotos a toda página, en panorámica de doble página que muestra varios locales, e incluye cuatro desplegables que muestran aceras completas de barrios significativos. It is, of course, a graphic work essentially full-page photos in panoramic double page showing various locations, including four drop-down neighborhoods show significant complete sidewalks. Las fotos no pretenden ser espectaculares ni disfrazar nada: tanto si hay una pintada como un desconchón, como si al rótulo de neón se le han caído dos letras o si es un frontal impecable de un restaurante pijo, la sucesión de imágenes es un reflejo literal de lo que allí sucede. The photos are not intended to be dramatic or disguise anything: whether there is a chipped paint, as if the neon sign will have fallen by two points or is a flawless front of a posh restaurant, the succession of images is a literal reflection what happens there. La selección de textos y protagonistas es impresionante por su diversidad y preciosa por el amor que profesan esos pequeños comerciantes hacia su medio de vida, que en no pocos casos va más allá y se convierte en su vida, a secas. The selection of texts and characters is impressive for its diversity and beautiful for the love they profess these small merchants to their livelihood, which in many cases goes further and becomes your life, period.