30 Jul 2014

The Fantastic World of Shopfrontelegy

I’ve recently subscribed to Shopfrontelegy, a post-per-day blog from Vici MacDonald, the photographer and publisher behind Formerly. Given my recent interest in ‘fading fascias‘ the blog has been compulsive reading/viewing, with a collection of shopfront photography going back many years. It should probably come with a health warning about the hours you’re likely to lose trying to catch up with the hundreds of posts to date. I’d recommend subscribing to receive all the new material emerging from this vast and fascinating collection.

I’ve picked some of my recent favourites/pertinent images to share here. (Thank you Vici for letting me feature these.) Just click on the photos to go to the relevant posts from Vici’s blog with additional images and background information. The one above from Birmingham is a far better capture than mine of the fantastic Pickering & Mayell facade with gilded window detail, as featured on the recent Jewellery Quarter walk.

First up is a 2005 image of the shop that later became ‘Sellfridges’, a fun part of my walking tour until it recently had its signage removed.

A classic fading fascia with accompanying dereliction.

Now gone, but a reminder of Asbestos’ heyday.

Often it’s the juxtapositions that Vici captures that make the photos so fascinating. For example Spice Nite versus Tile Work.

Chard & Sons versus Hardware Homeware.

London Laundry versus repainted ghostsigns.

And often the photos are just beautiful themselves, like this one for Moira’s.

• Blog
• Fading Fascias
• Fascia
• Ghostsigns
• Shop Fronts
• Shop Signs
• Shopfrontelegy
• Vici MacDonald