Reading the Streets

Following on from Brussels Type, this offers a personal take on street typography in various European cities, including in former Soviet countries and in southern Europe with photos of letters that epitomise a city's atmosphere.

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Stan Van Steendam's obsession for street typography prompted him to create the magnificent, acclaimed book, Brussels Type. Now comes Reading the Streets, in which Van Steendam travels abroad with the same mission. He likes to intuitively explore cities, using the typography on the city's streets as his guide - signs with letters that tell a story about the chequered history of these cities. He photographs the typographic fragments he discovers, isolating them from their context. As a result, these sometimes beautiful, at times banal, and often impressive, typographic compositions take on a whole new meaning. The outcome is a series of personal photos, taken with old, analog cameras that succeed in representing the transitory nature of the city in a heartfelt and provocative manner.