Photography

Exploring the Photography of the 1880s via a Greenwich Ghost Sign

Researching ghost signs is a very hit and miss affair, with dead ends fortunately offset by those that yield myriad clues and new paths to explore. This very faded piece on the wall of a residential property in South East London has been fascinating to investigate, taking me into the wonderful world of late-Victorian photography. […]

7 Dec 2020

Shropshire Shop Fronts of the 1880s

My father-in-law discovered this astonishing collection of high quality photography showing the high street in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in 1888. They were photographed by Joseph Lewis della-Porta who came from a retailing family and had the foresight to document these images which convey so much of life 130 years ago. They are part of a collection […]

31 Aug 2018

Cars and Ghost Signs by Tom Pawlesh

Tom Pawlesh got in touch and shared his cool collection of images composed by juxtaposing ghostsigns with a variety of classic cars. He has currently amassed almost 50 in total and I was happy to hear that Tom is already in contact with Dana Forrester who has drawn a similar connection between ghostsigns and cars. […]

13 Dec 2016

Moving Walls to Save a Ghost Sign

In an effort to save this fading and rusting shop front, Beth and Tony Walls moved the entire building 150ft to allow for a highway widening project. Martin Garfinkel of Roadside Gallery has captured it beautifully in this fine art print, available to buy here. Martin tells the story as follows. RE Ringer General Merchandise, […]

14 Mar 2014

Liminal Space: past/presence by Mari Boman

Mari Boman, a photographer, took ghostsigns as the subject matter for her project titled ‘Liminal Space: past/presence’. The result is this series of nine beautiful images of some of London’s most well known ghostsigns. Not only that but the titles offer cryptic clues as to the stories these signs tell us about London’s history and […]

25 Aug 2013

The Greatest Wonder of the World

While on my recent travels I was lucky enough to stumble upon The Greatest Wonder of the World exhibition at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The banner outside in big gold letters of various scripts obviously attracted my attention, and what a treat it was (and still is until 12th […]

5 May 2013