Faded Signs

This subject of faded signs painted on the sides of old buildings has been done many times over by many other photographers.

I am attracted to this subject because I believe buildings which house places of business should have a plaque or sign of some sort listing what businesses have occupied this space, and when.

I find that many times I try to find a restaurant or store that I visited a year earlier, only to find that not only is the store gone but no one in the neighborhood has any memory of what was there before. The store I looked for is already replaced by an entirely new business, and no one working at the new place has any idea of what was there earlier.

It is a disarming feeling that sometimes makes me question my own memory. The ultimate example of this for our time might be the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. Five and six years on I find that the ghastly hole on the horizon has slowly filled, but not completely. As time passes I wonder how the memory of the Twin Towers will fade into future generations.