| Frank Jump | |
| Occupation: | Urban photographer |
| Notable Works: | Fading Ads of New York City |
| Website: | https://www.frankjump.com/ |
Frank Jump (born 1960) is an American urban photographer and author. He is best known for his work Fading Ads of New York City, which documents ghost signs in New York City.
Jump's most famous work is Fading Ads of New York City, a book that collects photographs of fading advertisements on the sides of New York City buildings.[1] He began the series of photographs in 1997, after seeing an ad for Omega Oil, an old cure-all tonic.[2] His work was originally exhibited at the New York Historical Society in 1998, which turned into a book deal with History Press.[3] He has also published some of the photographs on his blog.[4] The photographs are shot on Kodachrome film, and interspersed with personal essays written by Jump drawing connections between the fading ads, the passage of time, mortality, and his own experiences living with HIV through the AIDS crisis.[5] In the foreword to Fading Ads, Andrew Irving, an anthropologist at the University of Manchester, discusses Jump's work as urban archaeology which helps illuminate how New York City evolved over time, and draws connections with the AIDS crisis.[6] The book inspired a series published by Arcadia Press documenting fading ads in other major American cities.[7] The Leonard Lopate show on WNYC interviewed Jump and called him an "acclaimed photographer."[8]
Jump received his B.A. in musical theater and film at Empire State College.[9] He was involved in ACT UP and was interviewed for the ACT UP oral history history project.[10] He is a technology teacher at a public school in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1986. He was featured in a PFLAG publicity campaign alongside Rosario Dawson, who sees him as an uncle.