James and Karla Murray are

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

n photographers. The husband and wife duo have photographed

storefront A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a bu ...

s of small businesses in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and elsewhere. They have also constructed a sculptural installation based on their photographic work.

Books

The Murrays have published two volumes of their photographic work, ''Store Front: The Face of Disappearing New York'' (2008, ) and ''Store Front II: A History Preserved: The Disappearing Face of New York'' ()''.'' The

New York Society Library The New York Society Library (NYSL) is the oldest cultural institution in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a subscription library. During the time when New York was the capital of the United States, it was the de ...

awarded the New York City Book Award to the Murray's 2012 book, ''New York Nights.'' in 2008, the Murray's were the subject of a documentary film, ''Store Front New York,'' directed by

Greg DeLiso Greg DeLiso (born October 25, 1986) is an American filmmaker, film editor, and director of photography. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in the suburbs of Shelby Township. Throughout his career, DeLiso has demonstrated his passion fo ...

which was shown at the 2009 Red Hook Film Festival. In March 2019 the Murrays and some of the East Village storefronts they have done work about were the subject of a local piece on

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...

channel four's lifestyle program, New York Live; the pair took the reporter of the story, Joelle Garguilo on a walking tour.

Exhibitions and permanent collections

In 2018, the Murrays created and exhibited an architectural assemblage created from storefronts they photographed. The work is named L.E.S. and was installed in Seward Park on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. Other exhibitions of their work have been held at

Brooklyn Historical Society The Center for Brooklyn History (CBH, formerly known as the Brooklyn Historical Society) is a museum, library, and educational center founded in 1863 that preserves and encourages the study of Brooklyn's 400-year history. The center's Romanesque R ...

, Clic Gallery, Fotogalerie Im Blauen Haus, the

Museum of Neon Art The Museum of Neon Art (MONA) is an institution that exists to encourage learning and curiosity through the preservation, collection, and interpretation of neon art. The first museum devoted to art that incorporates neon lighting, it exclusively e ...

, and the

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

. Permanent collections of their work are housed at the

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage The Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage (CFCH) is one of three cultural centers within the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. Its motto is "culture of, by, and for the people", and it aims to encourage understanding and cultural sus ...

and the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. The Murray's received the 2015 Regina Kellerman Award by the

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Village Preservation (formerly the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, or GVSHP) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the preservation of architecture and culture in several neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, New York. ...

(GVSHP).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James and Karla Living people People from New York City American photographers Married couples Year of birth missing (living people)

Books

Exhibitions and permanent collections

See also

References