Our Counter Culture book celebrates 30 of Manhattan’s most beloved diners and luncheonettes, serving the melting pot under the warm glow of neon lights, Formica counters, and chrome swivel stools. Included are classic establishments and local landmarks such as the Lexington Candy Shop, Veselka, Tom’s Restaurant, B&H Dairy and EJ’s Luncheonette as well as more recent establishments like Thai Diner, Revelie Luncheonette and Golden Diner that put cultural twists on traditional diner offerings. These neighborhood institutions embody the city at its best, providing comfort foods all hours of the day and night, but in recent years, gentrification has forced many of the businesses to close their doors at an alarming rate. Our vibrant exterior and intimate interior photographs and a smorgasbord of visual details are accompanied by vivid profiles by food and culture journalist Emma Orlow that uncover the stories behind each location, with insights from the owners.

ORDER A SIGNED COPY $54 (Includes shipping to anywhere in Continental USA).

GREAT BARS OF NEW YORK CITY: 30 of Manhattan's Favorite Storied Drinking Establishments

James and Karla Murray
Hardcover, 240 Pages, 220 Color Photographs Published by Prestel September 10, 2024

Our book, Great Bars of New York City is an exploration of and a toast to New York's fabled drinking establishments spotlighting a dazzling array of neighborhood institutions that have become cultural and historic landmarks, like the White Horse Tavern, McSorley’s Old Ale House, and Pete’s Tavern. We’ve also included lesser known establishments and beloved dive bars including Rudy’s Bar & Grill, Milano’s, Jimmy’s Corner, and Sophie’s, as well as unique spots such as the kitschy, hair salon-themed Beauty Bar, and trendsetting speakeasy PDT. Our exterior and interior photographs are paired with engaging descriptions that capture each location’s unique identity penned by journalist Dan Q. Dao.

ORDER A SIGNED COPY $49 (Includes shipping to anywhere in Continental USA).

MOM-AND-POP STOREFRONT LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATION

The Market Line - NYC at Essex Crossing at 115 Delancey Street commissioned us to provide large-scale photos of “Mom-and-Pop” storefronts which tied into the diverse cultural and ethnic history of the Lower East Side.

Our 22 foot wide x 14 foot high life-size "APPETIZERS" photographic installation is an homage to the hundreds of Appetizing shops that were prevalent in the Lower East Side in the early 1900s when the neighborhood was home to many Eastern European Jews, who made up a quarter of the City's population. Now only one Jewish Appetizing shop remains.

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTING INSTALLATION

JAMESANDKARLA YOUTUBE CHANNEL

We launched a YouTube channel travel vlog to act as an artistic intervention to help raise awareness of the importnace of small independently-owned businesses and the unique character these shops add to the streets and neighborhoods of New York City and beyond.
We post new videos every week!

SUBSCRIBE TO NEVER MISS AN EPISODE:
www.YouTube.com/c/JamesandKarla

CHROMATIC SIGNAGE COLLAGE PRINTS

We have 3 limited edition sizes available:

- 8.5 x 32 inch width image printed on 12 x 36 inch Kodak Professional Endura Glossy Paper Edition of 50

- 11.75 x 44 inch width image printed on 16 x 48 inch width Fuji Crystal Archive DPII Glossy Edition of 15
(Photo left showing 48 inch print)

-18 inch height x 68 inch width image printed on 20 x 72 inch width
(6 foot width) Fuji Crystal Archive DPII Glossy,
Edition of 10

Custom sizing also available.

STORE FRONT PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTALLATION
at INDEED NYC OFFICES

We were commissioned to provide 8 of our large-scale photographs of New York City mom-and-pop storefronts to be installed as wall-coverings for the conference rooms at the New York City offices of the #1 worldwide job search site, Indeed.

Indeed has over 180 million unique visitors per month matching employers with job seekers, and they recently began moving into their new 125,000-square-foot offices in the unique Hippodrome building at 1120 Avenue of the Americas. the former site of the once-celebrated Hippodrome Theatre. The design concept for the new office space according to Derek Stewart, head of real estate at Indeed, "pays homage to interesting job industries that call New York home."

Indeed chose an interesting array of our storefront photographs printed at near life-size for their conference rooms. Many of the storefronts they chose were photographed by us between 10 and 15 years ago using 35mm film and appear in our critically acclaimed book, "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York." Sadly, our photographs are one of the only visual records of many of these unique New York City storefronts, as they have disappeared in the face of modernization and conformity and the once unique appearance and character of our colorful streets has suffered in the process.

Our storefront photographs were printed on Terralon Paperback, a PVC-Free Wallcovering made from 31% post consumer recycled materials. It is breathable and has extremely low VOC's and can contribute to various LEED credits.

These are the sizes they were printed at:
Patsy's Restaurant 13 feet W x 8.4 feet H
Smith's Bar 11.6 feet W x 8 feet H
Clover Delicatessen 14.2 feet W x 8.4 feet H
Ralph's Discount City 11.6 feet W x 8 feet H

MOM-AND-POPS of the L.E.S.

Arts in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expresions Grant -Public Art Installation at Seward Park in the Lower East Side: East Broadway at Essex Street
June 2018 - June 2019

Our wood-framed sculpture consisted of near life-size photographs of four mom-and-pop neighborhood stores of the Lower East Side, many of which are no longer in business and have disappeared from the streetscape. Images of a bodega, a coffee shop/luncheonette, a delicatessen, and a newsstand recognize the unique and irreplaceable contribution made to New York by small, often family-owned businesses.

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEO of L.E.S THEN & NOW