posted 18 Jul 2010 04:43 by Sam Roberts
A new section of the website now offers a number of suggested books for those interested in reading more about Ghostsigns and related subjects. I've been meaning to do this for a while and have only just got round to it today, I hope you find something you like: Ghostsigns
(French Language)Three excellent
photographically focused books of French signs which don't require the
ability to read French to get a lot from them.SignwritingBooks on the
history of signwriting and also some 'how to' guides for those wishing
to take up the craft either professionally or as a hobby.Advertising
A
small collection of books providing historical accounts and context
including advertising, posters, enamel signs and ancient hieroglyphs.
Miscellaneous
A
variety of books either featuring Ghostsigns or about related topics. |
posted 12 Jul 2010 11:42 by Sam Roberts
I've just got round to posting the proper quality copies of the two biggest pieces of BBC coverage of the project.
First up, the One Show piece with correctly synched audio:
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posted 12 Jul 2010 08:50 by Sam Roberts
Ghostsigns have recently popped up a couple of times in trails I've come across. These build on my recent type tour and a post on the old blog about Jo Tomkins' Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk. 
Next is a neat little project designed to coincide with the 2010 London Festival of Architecture. It is called the Design Detail Trail and they've produced a series of five maps highlighting many and various pieces of design in the public space that might otherwise be overlooked. Some of these are Ghostsigns and there is an invitation to contribute more to the project. Each of the maps are downloadable as a pdf allowing you to set out on your own little guided tour of areas in central London.
All in all more nice work from different places. I'm still looking for help on my own attempt to do this, perhaps building up from a more local level like this is the way forward... |
posted 8 Jul 2010 10:12 by Sam Roberts
posted 5 Jul 2010 09:52 by Sam Roberts
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updated 5 Jul 2010 09:56
]
I've talked about Roofads before, this is a pretty cool addition to the series, advertising this and found here.
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posted 29 Jun 2010 09:52 by Sam Roberts
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.
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posted 28 Jun 2010 11:00 by Sam Roberts
posted 26 Jun 2010 03:27 by Sam Roberts
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.
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posted 9 Jun 2010 08:33 by Sam Roberts
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 from the old blog.
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posted 7 Jun 2010 13:36 by Sam Roberts
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