Mapping Ghostsigns

This free application offers some of what I'm looking for, allowing my own geotagged Flickr photos to be easily plotted on a map. When you click on any image in the bar at the bottom or pin in the map you get a direct link to the Flickr photo and any information given in the photo description (see below). This is a good starting point for a platform.

However, it needs to be able to pull images from a Flickr group rather than a single user and also to aggregate groups of photos from the same location/of the same sign. Also, building in some functionality like that available on this site to suggest geotags for other users' photos would also be beneficial. Finally, the ability to allow others to add information to the photo would help with adopting the Wiki-based approach to building up research.

Ghostsigns Worldwide, Part 2

I've added this sketch diagram to the initial brief and also built a mockup of a page format that could be used.

Ghostsigns Worldwide

Imagine a map like this plotting examples of hand painted advertising from across the world...
(Image from Panoramio)

I've been doing some thinking about the project and how we can move it to have global reach in a quick and collaborative way.

This is new territory for me and I'm looking for ideas, help, advice and volunteers to make it happen.

To begin the process I've set up a Wiki which outlines some of my initial thoughts with a view to building on these and provoking a discussion around how it can be done. Please visit it here.

If this comes off then I think it will a fantastic extension to the great work that has been done in the UK and will help to pull together the currently disperate efforts of hundreds of enthusiasts across the world. The information is all out there, it's just a case of pulling it all together in one place.

Annette Smith

On the back of my post about the interview in Bath for BBC Radio 4's Making History program I have been contacted by Bath artist and photographer Annette Smith. By pure coincidence she currently has an exhibition running until this weekend at the Octagon in Bath as part of the 'Fringe Arts Bath' festival.

She describes her work as "an investigation into the nature of photography as it relates to the passage of time as lived experience", clearly echoing the theme of Ghostsigns and with links to the efforts that have been made in capturing surviving signs photographically for the archive.

The focus of this exhibition are her "long exposure pinhole photographs" of fading signs and their host buildings around the city, all taken with "cameras made from redundant household containers and paper negatives". In addition to this quite raw approach she also notes that "only the immediate environment of the site, for example existing street furniture and walls, to support the camera, so that these locations can speak visually for themselves".

Sadly I didn't know about this before my visit to Bath last week, otherwise I could have gone along and written a more detailed review. Annette's information leaflet is attached and you can catch the exhibition upto and including this Sunday.

For more artistic interpretations of Ghostsigns and other related themes have a look at some of these posts.

Ghostsigns at the Sign Design Society (Talk)

The organisers of the events programme at the Sign Design Society have kindly invited me to give a talk in September. This will use some material from my university sessions covering the history and context of the signs. I'll then be introducing the work carried out on the archive and what I've learned from this before moving on to consider what the future holds for our Ghostsigns. Throughout I'll be encouraging interruptions and discussion.

Date: Thursday, 2nd September 2010
Time: 6.30-8.00pm
Location: John Lewis Partnership, Room 1.6, 171 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5NN
Tickets: Sign Design Society members Free, Students £7.50, All Others £15.00 (Buy here)
More info: Click here

Hope to see you there,
Sam

New Hovis Commercial

Rank Hovis kindly sponsored the work with The History of Advertising Trust in getting the archive off the ground and now their sister brand, Hovis, have featured a Ghostsign in their latest TV commercial. You can catch a glimpse at about 00:10 in the clip below.

Incidentally this sign isn't in the archive so any location or photographic leads would be great, just email me, sam@ghostsigns.co.uk. Is it a 'real' Ghostsign or was it created especially for the commercial?

Thanks Sara for the tip-off.

Making History in Bath

Press interest in the project continues and on Thursday last week I travelled to Bath to be interviewed for the BBC Radio 4 program Making History. The resulting feature will be broadcast at 3.00pm on Tuesday, 15th June and will also be available after this on iPlayer.

Bath is an interesting place in the context of Ghostsigns because there are lots that have been inadvertently protected by the listed status of many of the city's buildings. Some of these are in excellent condition and so I took my camera with me to snap some photos. With the exception of one new discovery all of these are already in the archive with photos from other contributors so I've linked to these for those interested in more precise location details.


Circulating Library


Hay Hill Dairy. I assumed this one was in the archive but the photographers responsible haven't committed so I'll be adding this one soon from my own collection.


Nestle / Milkmaid Palimpsest.


Nestle Etc


Nestle Etc


Nestle Etc. There is clearly some text and possibly an illustration in this close up but does anyone know what it says? Please leave a comment or send me an email, sam@ghostsigns.co.uk, if so.


Players and Gold Flake


There are many layers of text on this sign so I'm still trying to decipher it, any thoughts in the comments or by email, sam@ghostsigns.co.uk


Lock...Auctioneer...


www...but this surely pre-dates the internet [sic]




Gas fitter...&c...Workshops...

Type Tour

A few weeks ago I went on a walking tour organised by type which was led by the very knowledgable, ex-compositor, John Voller. It took in the area around Fleet Street and St Pauls where the print industry grew up alongside the many associated disciplines/crafts, not least typography. This tour was the 'West' route, there is also one that starts in Old Street, the 'East' route. It was fascinating to learn about the history of print and typography and to have this illustrated through a series of locations which would otherwise escape attention.

Here are some photographic highlights and comments. Tours can be booked online (West here, East here) and for each booking a donation is made to the St Bride Library (well worth a visit in its own right).



The tour kicks off in the yard outside the St Bride Foundation, home of the St Bride Library, where this olde hand painted script can be seen just above the doorway.



Even higher up is this piece carved into the stone, a sign that when this was put up the foundation were planning on being here for the long term (touch wood, they still are).



Visible from the yard is the steeple of St Bride's Church, home to the final resting place of many of Fleet Street's great historical figures.



Blogger extraordinaire Samuel Pepys gets a pretty nice plaque just off Fleet Street.



Spotted on the floor as we turned into Bolt Court.



Another 'blue plaque', this time celebrating London's first daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, first published the year before the death of Samuel Pepys.



Stationers' Hall, home of one of the many livery companies operating out of the City of London. This was the birthplace of modern copyright as we know it.



Goldsmiths, another livery company.



A visit to Postman's Park offers some sad tales of heros who died in their efforts to save the lives of others. (Check out Caroline's excellent exploration of the stories found in the park.)



A recurring theme throughout the latter part of the tour is the outstanding stone work of Richard Kindersley, this an example of one of his trademark spirals on a war memorial outside St Pauls.

Here's a map of the area covered by the tour, thank you to John and type for putting it on, I'll sort out the East one soon.

BBC Radio Nottingham

This short piece was broadcast on BBC Radio Nottingham on the morning of 18th May 2010. It features an interview with historyanorak and was accompanied by a photo feature on their website.

Coming soon will be another piece on radio, this time BBC Radio 4 featuring an interview with me in Bath for the Making History program. This should be broadcast at 3.00pm on Tuesday, 15th June and will also be available on iPlayer following this.