The signs, if you’re looking for one, are there.

This is what the photographer Lee Friedlander found when he moved to New York in the mid-1950s. In the 50-plus years since, Mr. Friedlander, 84, has dedicated his life to chronicling the elements of American society that others might ignore. Beyond cramming his frames with storefronts, streetlamps, and stoplights, Mr. Friedlander also brings out an emotional quality to tedious, daily warnings in our urban environment, like “No Parking” and “Everything Must Go!”

Many of these photos are part of the new book “Lee Friedlander: Signs,” from the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco.