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January 27, 2022

Beautiful Black and White Photos of Life in Pittsburgh in 1950

In 1950 Elliott Erwitt, then just twenty-two years old, set out to capture Pittsburgh’s transformation from an industrial city into a modern metropolis. Commissioned by Roy Stryker, the mastermind behind the large-scale documentary photography projects launched by the US government during the Great Depression, Erwitt shot hundreds of frames. 

His images recorded the city’s communities against the backdrop of urban change, highlighting his quiet observations with the playful wit that has defined his style for over five decades. After only four months, Erwitt was drafted into the army and sent to Germany, leaving his negatives behind in Stryker’s Pittsburgh Photographic Library. The negatives remained at the Pennsylvania Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for decades.

Take a look at life in Pittsburgh in 1950 through these 23 fantastic black and white photographs taken by Erwitt:

Waiting for a streetcar in downtown Pittsburgh, 1950

Downtown hat shop window, September 1950

Workman on wrecking project at the Point, 1950

Gateway Center demolition area, 1950

Lalock Street, 1950

Student priests view city from top of Monongahela Incline, September 1950

Section around Tenth Street Bridge across Monongahela River, October 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Outside Presbyterian Church on Sixth Avenue, September 1950

Boundary Street, 1950

The crowd at Armistice Day Parade, November 1950

The crowd at Armistice Day Parade, November 1950

Schenely Park at night, 1950

Top row of Syria Mosque during concert, November 1950

Pittsburgh, 1950

Bus terminal, October 1950

Saline Street, September 1950

(via Magnum)

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