James & Klara Murray. Store Front.
This project is one that documents a disappearing part of culture in the modern and constantly changing sprawled metropolis of New York. James & Klara had observed that New Yorks brightly painted independent and unique stores were disappearing at an alarming rate and wanted to document and preserve what they could of what was left, this led them on an 8 year journey to the completion of their project Store Front which documents the decline of these stores throughout the different neighborhoods of the city capturing not only photos but small clips of interviews with the store owners patching together a colourful and vibrant yet over all saddening experience that tells of how these New York stores are being forced into closure and how this then effects the entire neighborhood. This James & Klara say is a story that must be told.
This is highly effective as a tool and has allowed the issues to be highlighted and put them into the public eye in a way in which just text in an article never could, this is an important part of successful social documentary as generally no one will be interested in your issue until you raise it so it must catch the readers attention or will go unnoticed. I will aim to incorporate similar techniques in my own work in order for it to be successful.
The simplistic composure and repetitive nature of the photography that is so consistent throughout the body of work, and the choice of a less saturated colour film are all decisions that create an air of faded glory that resonates so clearly throughout the work as a whole these choices add up with the text into a tool in which the photographer almost bullies the reader into empathy.
The work is so bold that it is almost hard to escape with it constantly catching your eye and dragging you in.
