PHOTOGRAPHY: London Shop Fronts

Emily Webber maintains the inspired photo blog London Shop Fronts,of which I'm a big fan. And it's really exciting to feature her wonderful photos on - TFAD Simon Mason

Over to Emily:

I started taking photos of shop fronts in 2004. What began as an interest in fonts and signage grew into a fascination with the shop front as a whole. Shop fronts are the everyday that people tend to not notice; just taking some time to really look at them when walking down a high street gives you a chance to read the story of the area’s history, diaspora and prosperity. A good shop front has a narrative. and these are the shop fronts I aim to capture.
 
I have amassed around 1500 photos of shop fronts from around London. I'm caught by a collecting bug that pushes me to try and get them all before they disappear. I have so many favourites and find a charm in the similarities in the different types: the kitch signage of Launderettesuntouched since the 1960s and 1970s; Chinese takeaways with welcoming names like Happy Chops and Friends, and hairdressers that have makeshift signs and sometimes double up as social clubs I've found I'm not alone in this obsession.London, but I've discovered a whole network of ‘fronters’ around the world, from NewYork, to Seoul, to Toronto. These are photo historians, creating valuable collections that, far in the future, will show a window on the world as it is now.

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