Photo Essays Archives - Pittsburgh Quarterly

On Sept. 11, 2001, Judi Baeckel was working at the Shanksville Post Office and talking with a customer about news reports that hijackers had flown jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. “At least we know we’re safe in Shanksville,” Baeckel recalls the customer saying. Within minutes, the roof and windows of the …

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People

I Am Everyday People

by Renee Rosensteel

“When I was in college I had an incredible teacher named Mr. Pfaff. He thought I was really good at photography and he encouraged me. He really went the extra mile to make me feel I was special,” Renee Rosensteel remembers. Turns out he was right. For the last 20 years, Rosensteel has built a …

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Culture

Faith Through It All

by John Beale

Photographer John Beale shows creative worship during the pandemic.

Nature

Joshua Troup: Nature’s Bounty

by PQ Staff

He’s a data scientist by day, but for the last eight years Joshua Troup has also been a professional photographer based in Canonsburg. While the work he does for clients varies, the photos he takes for himself most often feature the special beauty of the western Pennsylvania region. “I try to get outdoors as much …

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Architecture & Neighborhoods

Roy Engelbrecht: City Life

by PQ Staff

“Pull out a camera and all of a sudden, strange things happen,” laughs Roy Engelbrecht. For more than 50 years, Engelbrecht has specialized in architectural and landscape photography and every picture, as they say, tells a story. Engelbrecht remembers them all, starting with the day his best friend gave him a box camera for his …

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Architecture & Neighborhoods

Under a Bridge

by Teake Zuidema

Since 1996, photographer Teake Zuidema has called Pittsburgh his hometown. For the largest part of that time, he photographed all over the country and world, but hardly ever in Pittsburgh. That changed in 2018 when he began to accept assignments to photograph musicians, dancers, ethnic minorities and roller skaters in the ’Burgh. When the pandemic …

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Arts

George Lange: Through a Joyful Lens

by George Lange

Internationally renowned photographer George Lange grew up in Squirrel Hill and recently returned with his family to live in his childhood home. He credits the joy from his Pittsburgh childhood with influencing his playful approach to photography, which often involves allowing his subjects to reveal sides of themselves that are not often shared. “I am …

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Culture

Pittsburgh in Crisis

by John Beale

Editor’s note: 2020 has been full of calamity and adversity and it’s only June. Whether the pandemic and unprecedented economic shutdown or the more recent protests that have erupted here and across the world, the ordeals have ushered in a year that’s been unrecognizable from any that preceded it. Photographer John Beale has captured images …

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Culture

Signs of the Times

by John Beale

The coronavirus has posed problems for every corner of society, and as we saw over Easter weekend, churches have been no exception. Yet, whether blessing people in drive-through lines, using social media or the radio, during this Holy Week pastors have used every means at their disposal to keep close to their flocks. And as …

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Architecture & Neighborhoods

The Deserted Streets of Pittsburgh

by John Beale

In Downtown Pittsburgh, a beat cop checks the doors of businesses along Penn Avenue. The streets are empty except for the occasional person waiting at a bus stop. Market Square has an eerie feeling; eateries remain open for takeout, but few people pass through. On quiet Grant Street, an Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department vehicle passes …

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Sports

Best Stadium in Baseball

by Scott Goldsmith

It was a bone chilling January afternoon when Kevin McClatchy climbed to the top of Three Rivers Stadium in 1996. McClatchy, the new owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, posed for some magazine photographs with the cavernous soup-bowl-shaped stadium that within two years would become rubble. He smiled frequently, shivering in the cold wind as he …

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History

Strolling the Streets of Classic Pittsburgh

by David Aschkenas

Take a walk around the Pittsburgh of yesteryear in this photo collection by David Aschkenas. Although the photographs were taken between 1978 and 1982, some look like they could fit into the 1940s with old neighborhood storefronts and hints of the city’s ethic roots. View more of David Aschkenas’s work at www.daschkenasphoto.com.

Nature

Patterns at the Reservoir

by David Aschkenas

With winter’s storms and frigid temperatures come delicate specimens of nature’s beauty, for those attentive enough to notice. Over several years, photographer David Aschkenas captured the natural art of ice patterns on the surface of the Highland Park Reservoir. Enjoy the beauty of freezing temperatures—without needing to bundle up—in this photo collection by Aschkenas. View …

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Travel

A Pittsburgher Goes to Florence

by David Aschkenas

Take a quick international trip to Florence, Italy with Pittsburgh photographer David Aschkenas. In this photo collection, Aschkenas explores the Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens, the eclectic La Specola natural history museum as well as a few churches, including Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella and the Duomo. View more of David Aschkenas’s work at www.daschkenasphoto.com.

Arts

Carnegie International Opening Weekend Through the Lens of an Outsider

by Casey Kelbaugh

Though my visits to Pittsburgh have been few and far between, I’ve always known that my family had deep roots in the Iron City. Along with that came a vague whisper of prominence verbally imparted by my grandparents. But until my visit to the opening weekend of the Carnegie International in October, I had no …

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Culture

Indiana County Tree Farmers Keep the Green in Christmas

by John Beale

When your friends in Florida or your relatives in Virginia gather around their live Christmas tree this season, there’s a chance the evergreen was grown and harvested from a hillside in Indiana County, Pa. Flemings Christmas Tree Farm in Indiana is just one of 20 tree farms in the county that claims to be “The …

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Sports

Painting Pittsburgh’s Ice

by David Aschkenas

This is how it all begins: a man, a stencil, a crayon, and of course a bed of ice. Total time for the crew to paint the ice: about 8 hours. Follow the mesmerizing process of decorating the ice of the Pittsburgh Penguins in this photo collection by David Aschkenas. View more of David Aschkenas’s …

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Nature

Highland Park: When Ordinary Becomes Dramatic

by David Aschkenas

Photographer David Aschkenas has been walking through East End’s Highland Park for many years. When visiting the same area on a daily basis, you begin to see dramatic changes in the same landscape due to the changing of the seasons and weather changes. As Aschkenas shows in this hauntingly beautiful photo collection, something that looks …

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Architecture & Neighborhoods

Pittsburgh at Twilight

by David Aschkenas

Some cities are known for spectacular sunsets. Photographer David Aschkenas finds that, in Pittsburgh, the most interesting light is just before sunrise. Experience Pittsburgh at twilight in this collection of intriguing photographs. View more of David Aschkenas’s work at www.daschkenasphoto.com.

Travel

Synagogues Around the World

by David Aschkenas

For the past seven years, a Pittsburgh photographer has been working on a personal project: Capturing the beauty of synagogues in Europe. Experience the architecture and history of synagogues from Prague, Budapest, Kracow, Amsterdam, Venice, and Florence in this photo collection by David Aschkenas. View more of David Aschkenas’s work at www.daschkenasphoto.com.

Culture

A Summer Sampling: Southwestern Pennsylvania’s County Fairs

by David Aschkenas

For many Pittsburghers, summer memories include fun days—and nights—at county fairs. In this collection of images, photographer David Aschkenas captures the spirit and fascinating culture of the region’s fairs over the past decade. The Big Butler Fair has already come and gone, but get your fill of country concerts and contests at these other fairs …

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Business

A Look Inside Google’s Unconventional Bakery Square Offices

by David Aschkenas

What is really behind the brick walls of that redeveloped Nabisco cookie factory building in Bakery Square, labelled with Google’s colorful logo? Think: hammocks, coffee shops, dining rooms, gaming rooms and pool tables. Created in collaboration with local architecture firm Strada, Google’s office space in Pittsburgh’s East End is playful, unconventional and inspiring with many …

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