[Photo courtesy James and Karla Murray]

The Brooklyn Historical Society’s current exhibition, “The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn’s Storefronts” is a captivating look in to the storefront facades that shape our neighborhoods. The exhibition has been extended through March 29, 2009 and is a must see.

Brooklyn’s neighborhood storefronts have the city’s history etched in their facades. Each store is as unique as the customers they serve and are run by owners who share a commitment to provide a special service. Many shops are lifelines for their communities, vital to the residents who depend on them for a multitude of needs. Yet such shops are disappearing on a daily basis as their neighborhoods rapidly change. Photographer-curators James and Karla Murray have scoured Brooklyn to observe “mom and pop” businesses from humble neighborhood stores tucked away on narrow side streets to well-known institutions on historic avenues. Through panoramic photographs, portraits of individual storefronts, and illuminating interviews with shop owners, this exhibition reveals how neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.

Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (at Clinton Street), Brooklyn Heights

–E.C. Stephens