Witness To The Fifties: The Pittsburgh Photographic Library, 1950–1953 (General, Photography)

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Description

Initially commissioned to record the progress of Pittsburgh’s Renaissance I, these unforgettable black-and-white photographs of Roy Stryker’s Pittsburgh Photographic Library (PPL) capture the city in a state of flux. They reveal a union of opposites—the suited wonderment of the downtown businessman with the easy grace and competence of a shirtless construction worker balanced high over his head; the anonymity and isolation of planned housing with the belief in expansion and renewal; the energy and excitement of a city on the move with the traditions of the established elite; the juxtaposition between the growing optimism about the ability of technology to support our lives; and the traditional steel and other heavy smokestack industries that still dominated the region. The Renaissance used to be seen as a way for Pittsburgh to keep abreast of modern urban life and to preserve its economic position, but the rapid development of a white suburban middle class used to be sapping the very essence of the personalized downtown neighborhoods. These photographers have captured the convergence of destruction and rejuvenation that may be the essence of an urban renaissance—the entire anxiety and hope of the decade is reflected in these poignant photographs.

Constance Schulz’s fascinating essay on the story of the PPL,  with the intention to present a full picture of the political and civic goals, achievements, and failings of the project, provides a thorough discussion of the background of the Pittsburgh Photographic Library, putting into perspective the Allegheny Conference’s purpose for initiating the PPL, Roy Stryker’s own vision and work, in addition to those of the photographers who worked for Stryker on the project, and the politics that undermined the full implementation of it. Clark M. Thomas’s accompanying narrative offers an eclectic range of facts and fascinating bits of the city’s history and neighborhood lore, in addition to noting important political and economic episodes. It also provides a glimpse into the regularly underrepresented lives of minorities and women in the region’s development. Any individual moved by the implausible social upheaval and expansion that occurred in cities across the nation in the 1950s following years of depression and war will need to have this collection.


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