Talking Walls

Painted Letters by Adam Bletchly

I almost forgot about this project (spotted by Caroline) which involved six lines of a poem being hand painted onto walls around Deptford. Inspired to an extent by Ghostsigns, it is an attempt "to commemorate and preserve the dying industry of hand rendered sign writing, presently drowning amongst corporate messaging". Each piece has a photo, location map and short timelapse video of the work in progress.

Visit the Talking Walls website for more information and the next three lines of the poem sometime in the future...

Signs of Cambodia

 Hi-Fis and TV-Video combos on the outskirts of Ban Lung

Over a year since I first wrote about hand painted signs in Cambodia I thought it was time for a brief update. First are some examples from my travels around the country, followed by some other pieces of signage that amused me in one way or another.


First to Kep, a nice use of the available space and a charming if erratic script in red.


Much more simplistic, I'm not sure what the '2' above the 'O' is for.


An attempt at illustration and an oddly placed exclamation mark.


Low literacy levels mean that signs frequently feature very explicit illustrations of the product or service offered. This one is from Takeo.


Rough and ready, all I can tell you is that the price is 1,500 riel, which is about $0.40 / 30p.


A very polished effort from Battambang.


Both sides of these street signs can be used to showcase different services. First is gagging.


Next is jabbing the eyebrow with a spiked instrument. These two from Battambang.


Another shop front in Battambang.


Close-ups of the very latest technology available inside.




Cassette players on the outskirts of Battambang.


Check out the crease ironed into those trousers!


A very cool trail bike illustration.


The now fading welcome sign at the lake in Ratanakiri.


Pagodas across the country have wall paintings depicting a hell-like scene. This one at Sambok Mountain in Kratie province features this interesting component which may not be everyone's idea of hell...


A modern painted sign in Phnom Penh, spotted on the way to TEDxPhnomPenh.


Found in Siem Reap, advertising a foot-bath filled with tiny fish who eat all your dead skin. Perhaps not the most hygienic thing in the world, but certainly funny and happy.


Back to Kep and what better double act of services could you hope for, get you hair cut while you scooter is cleaned.


From Battambang. I've no idea what it means.


Don't wash your hands in the urinal in Siem Reap.


Don't squat on the toilet. (NB. To be serious for a moment, sanitation is a major health issue in Cambodia where the majority of people do not have access to quality toilet facilities. These signs are at Angkor Wat which is free for Cambodian citizens, many of whom have not encountered a 'western' sitting toilet or systems based on running water technology.)


Very explicit location information for the showers at a swimming pool in Battambang.


And in Takeo, a reminder that tobacco advertising is far from banned in Cambodia. Value your pleasure with a D&J, or should that be DJ?

Ghostsigns in The Biochemist

Press coverage for the project sometimes throws up surprises and I was delighted to see that the October 2011 edition of The Biochemist labelled my site as among the 'Best of the Web'. Katy's photo once again caught the editor's eyes in this very nice write up. Thank you to Executive Editor Mark Burgess at the Biochemical Society for his kind permission to republish this piece which can be viewed full screen by clicking on the image above or downloaded in its original form as a pdf here.

Ghostsigns Research from Laura Carletti Scoops Award

Congratulations to Laura Carletti who took home an award for her presentation of the most recent paper on the Ghostsigns Project at the Digital Engagement conference in Newcastle. The paper is available for download here and below, with the following note regarding copyright:

"Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee."

- Digital Engagement ‘11, November 15 – 17, 2011, Newcastle, UK.

Laura Carletti Abstract

Following the recent survey which is part of a larger research project, Laura Carletti has kindly given permission to publish the abstract of a paper she presented to the Digital Resources in the Humanities and Arts conference held back in September. The full title is:

"Enhancement of niche cultural and social resources through crowd-contribution: the creation of the Ghostsigns online archive."

You can download it here and more work in this area will hopefully follow as Laura progresses with her research.

Fading Ads of New York City

The eagerly awaited release of Frank Jump's 'Fading Ads of New York City' book is almost upon us. I was fortunate enough to be offered a sneak preview by Frank himself so here are some reflections on the book to whet your appetite and hopefully encourage you to get a copy as soon as it’s published in the UK and the USA.

First and foremost is the quality of photography and the specimens that Frank has captured in his daring escapades around New York. 72 examples are beautifully documented which, although representing just a fraction of his collection, offer up some of the best examples to be found in this city of signs. Two of my favourites are his first ever photograph, the four-storey Omega Oil, and the colourfully illustrated sign for M. Rappoport’s Music Store. The selection is diverse, providing excellent examples of many components of the painted form: scale; lettering; illustration; characters; slogans.


Omega Oil by Frank Jump

Accompanying each sign in the book is a well researched account of the history of the company advertised. This is then set within the context of the wider industry and its connection to New York. In this sense, the book is an historical account of the commercial history of the city and the districts within it. There are parallels to Ben Passikoff’s ‘The Writing on the Wall’, although Frank uses individual signs as his springboard into the wider historical context.

Perhaps the most striking difference between Frank’s book and others in the growing catalogue of Ghostsigns titles is the personal dimension that he brings to his work. The connections between his documentation of New York’s Fading Ads and his fight against HIV/AIDS are inescapable. He uses the unintended survival of the signs as a metaphor for his own survival against the odds, and is very candid in his account of his own story. In this respect, the book is part history, part autobiography, and I learned about more than just Ghostsigns from reading it.

Adding another layer of depth to the book are a series of written pieces by various figures including historians, academics, and fellow Fading Ad enthusiasts. There are nine in total including an introduction from Ghostsigns pioneer William Stage (author of the original 'Ghost Signs' book) and an extended essay considering the meaning of these signs in terms of time and place from Dr Andrew Irving of the University of Manchester. It is clear from these accompanying texts that Frank’s life and work has touched many people in a positive way. In fact, my own account of the encouragement he offered me in the early stages of my interest in hand painted advertising is one such contribution. (To what extent it adds any depth you can judge for yourself by downloading here...)

This book is a fantastic addition to the published material available on the topic and I learned a lot from it. I hope that the publishers will commission a sequel so that even more of Frank’s photography can find its way onto the printed page. In fact, it looks like it might be the first in a series of titles based on this recent announcement from Lawrence O'Toole.

[The book is available to buy on Amazon USA here, and will hopefully be available soon from Amazon UK here.]