The Writing on the Wall ─ Rediscovering New York City's "Ghost Signs"

A Photographic and Historical Record of the City’s Vanishing Advertisements

As the great city of New York moves, changes, and evolves every day, the few remnants of its past go unnoticed. New York City’s ghost signs” advertisements painted across the facades of buildings that date back to the 19th centuryare often invisible to the busy New Yorker, but defiantly conspicuous if only we turn our eyes and look upwards. These faded representations of the city’s rich economic and social history are slowly disappearing before our eyes, but not before they were captured by this photographer’s lens.

At the tender age of sixteen, Ben Passikoff roamed around Manhattan with his camera to document these fascinating signshand-painted messages written all over the city. This photographic collection features signs painted in the 1800s as well as in the 21st century; signs that advertise funeral homes, meat, and underwear; signs stretched across iconic buildings; and even signs that are no longer legible. Using his photographs as a looking-glass into the past, Passikoff provides insightful commentary on the economic, social, and historical significance of commerce in New York City, and its vanishing ghost signs, now preserved in this photographic record.

Ben Passikoff started photographing old advertisements around his birth place of New York City when he joined the photography club in high school. His self-published bookThe Writing on the Wall was first launched at The New York Historical Society, in whose archives his photos now reside. He is the youngest contributor in the Society’s 212 year history. Ben works as a freelance writer and filmmaker in New York City, New York.