‘Store Front’ artists to host free photography and oral history workshops about mom-and-pops

Since publishing “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York,” a photo documentation of iconic mom-and-pops, 10 years ago, photographers James and Karla Murray have become household names around NYC. And they now are letting New Yorkers in on their tricks of the trade in an upcoming two-part workshop in partnership with the Neighborhood Preservation Center. “Capturing the Faces and Voices of Manhattan’s Neighborhood Storefronts” is a “photography and oral history workshop of the cultural significance of mom-and-pop stores and the impact they have on the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.” Participants will not only learn photography skills but how to record oral histories and use these tools for “public awareness and advocacy.”

Over the past decade, James and Karla have published two follow-up books, “New York Nights” and “Store Front II-A History Preserved,” winning countless awards along the way. It was also announced just last month, that they were chosen to be part of the Art in the Parks UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant Program. For this, the Murrays have created a public art installation titled “Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S.,” a wood-frame structure that will feature four nearly life-size images of Lower East Side business that have disappeared.

The couple led their first free workshop with the NPC last year, but this session was specific to the Lower East Side. This year, it will include all Manhattan neighborhoods. There will be two separate two-session workshops held at the Neighborhood Preservation Center in the East Village, culminating in an exhibition of each participant’s work at the Little Underground Gallery at the Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village from August 1st to October 1st.

The workshops are free but require advanced registration. Sign up here >>

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