Downtown Now Photography Project

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The Heinz Endowments has invited five photographers to participate in year two of a project to document the changing culture and place of Downtown Pittsburgh. The photographers will submit approximately 1500 photographs of 18 downtown locations. At the end of the year, as many as 125 exemplary images (25 per photographer) will be chosen to be included in a permanent archive. We view the archive that will be created as one of lasting historical and artistic significance and intend to make it available to the public as appropriate.

The inspiration for the project is the Pittsburgh Photographic Library, an archive both artful and documentary coordinated by Roy Stryker during the first Pittsburgh Renaissance of the 1950s. As downtown Pittsburgh undergoes a new series of dramatic changes, this project is envisioned to document downtown as it evolves over the course of a number of years and, ultimately, to display the results as public art.

Photographers:
The following five photographers are contributing to the project this year:

• Melissa Farlow is a staff photographer for National Geographic. Prior to this, she took photographs for the Pittsburgh Press.
• Jim Judkis is an independent freelance documentary photographer.
• Mark Perrott is an independent freelance documentary photographer.
• Annie O'Neill is an independent freelance documentary photographer.
• Dylan Vitone teaches photography at Carnegie Mellon University.

All have been widely exhibited and published.

Subjects:
The photographers are documenting the following projects which are currently changing, or will soon change, the face of downtown:

• 3PNC
• August Wilson Center for African American Culture
• Century Building
• Downtown grocery store
• Carnegie Science Center River Center
• Convention Center-related projects (riverfront park, future hotel)
• Gateway Grant Street Transit Center
• Majestic Star Casino
• Market Square
• Murphy Building
• New Penguins Arena/Lower Hill District
• Piatt Place
• Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation’s Fifth and Market
• Point Park University
• Riverparc
• Three Rivers Park/Point State Park
• Underpasses to North Side

In addition to project sites and architecture, the photographers will capture the flavor of “life on the street” downtown by documenting it through four seasons, at different times of day, and on different occasions, such as game days, theater nights, school events, etc.

Photo Credit:
Photo Credit: From the North Shore Riverfront Park, a panoramic view of Downtown across the Allegheny River; Jeff Greenberg, photographer