Once
upon a simpler time, hand-painted and hand-crafted signs brought colour and
vibrancy to Australian towns and cities — advertising everything from dining
rooms, milk bars, and CWA halls to Peter’s ice cream, oatmeal, stout, Chinese
restaurants, and Shelley’s famous drinks. Now faded and slowly disappearing, they
tell the story of life over two centuries, recording a distinctly Australian
vernacular language.
A
keen photographer of the everyday, Brady Michaels has recorded an impressive array
of signs from across Australia — from the earliest ads for household goods and
services, to more recent but now defunct video lending libraries and internet
cafés.
These
beautifully composed and nostalgic images are accompanied by brief commentary
by Dale Campisi, who ponders the significance of these fading and disappearing
signs — artful, kitsch, and at times hilarious — lovingly
preserved through Brady’s lens.
