Fading Ads of New York City

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New York City is eternally evolving. From its iconic skyline to its side alleys, the new is perpetually being built on the debris of the past. But a movement to preserve the city’s vanishing landscapes has emerged. For nearly twenty years, Frank Jump has been documenting the fading ads that are visible, but less often seen, all over New York. Disappearing from the sides of buildings or hidden by new construction, these signs are remnants of lost eras of New York’s life. They weave together the city’s unique history, culture, environment and society and tell the stories of the businesses, places and people whose lives transpired among them — the story of New York itself. This photo-documentary is also a study of time and space, of mortality and living, as Jump’s campaign to capture the ads mirrors his own struggle with HIV. Experience the ads — shot with vintage Kodachrome film — and the meaning they carry through acclaimed photographer and urban documentarian Frank Jump’s lens.