Archive for November 2023
Heinz Chapel
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Heinz Memorial Chapel pictured above, which offers 57 varieties of interdenominational religious services and…
Actually, it’s a ‘sacred space’ dedicated to and built by the Heinz family of Pittsburgh. The Heinz Chapel opened in 1938, at a ceremony led by the son of Henry John Heinz, founder of the H.J. Heinz Company.
Now simply branded as ‘Heinz,’ the company are the purveyors of various preserved vegetables and condiments, which includes their category defining Tomato Ketchup. The scion died in 1919, and his three children carried on with his desire to memorialize their grandmother Anna Margaretha Heinz after he passed on.
The Heinz family is still quite prominent in Pittsburgh, through their philanthropic Heinz Endowments fund, and for serving in the endless sea of Politics. If there was a Batman here, he’d secretly be a Heinz, rather than a Wayne.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was rather late in the day when I arrived at the Heinz Chapel, which unfortunately severely limited my time there to a ‘run and gun’ sort of visit. They roll up the sidewalks in Pittsburgh pretty early, I should mention. This was about 4 in the afternoon.
Luckily, the person who was serving as the attendant allowed me usage of the lavatory, which had become something of an urgent need, and I then had just a literal minute to grab a shot of the chapel itself before she would be turning off the lights and locking the doors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I said about St. Paul cathedral – wow.
This is a spot which I’m definitely going to revisit soon, as I’d love to capture some of the abundant detail within the chapel from behind the lens.
Back tomorrow with something different, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
St. Paul RC Cathedral
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
St. Paul Cathedral’s construction, here in Pittsburgh, was completed in 1906. The cathedral was designed by the architectural team of Egan and Prindeville, in the Gothic Revival Style and its design was inspired by Germany’s Cologne Cathedral. It’s the seat of the Pittsburgh Diocese, administered by its resident Bishop – the Most Rev. David A. Zubic, and St. Paul Cathedral is the mother church of all of the Catholic parishes in the Greater Pittsburgh area.
The top of its spires are 247 feet high, its internal chapel seats 2,600 people, and it’s one of the anchors of the Schenley Farms historic district. It’s quite a church building.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One strode up to the place, whose main entrance doors were open. As is my habit, when passing by the holy water thingamabob – after entering the chapel section within – I stuck a fingertip into the consecrated fluid, and since nothing adverse occurred one continued on. The people who run this place dress like wizards, so you gotta check.
A student was practicing their art on the pipe organ within, which lent a certain atmosphere to the entry. After my eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight without…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wow. Just, wow.
There were a couple of attendants preparing the place for an upcoming mass, and an academic instructor was talking on a two way radio and offering critique to that student organist from down in one of the pews, but other than them – I was there by myself in this ‘sacred space.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I affixed a wide angle lens to my camera, and secured that device onto the small platypod mount which I always carry on these sorts of adventures. I set the camera up for longish exposures, of 5-6 seconds, and got busy.
What do you Goyem call this location – is it a pulpit, or an altar, or what? I once referred to a similar ritual focus spot found at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC’s Soho as a stage – to a Monsignor – which won me a ‘tsk, tsk’ from the prelate.
I confess my ignorance when it occurs, something which I consider as being one of my better traits – a ray of light amongst all the horrible habits and negativity which causes everybody to hate me, eventually.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back towards the entrance, you can see the pipe organ setup in the center of the shot. The original Pipe Organ at St. Paul was donated by Andrew Carnegie, but that unit was replaced in 1962.
As mentioned, a student organist was practicing their craft, and being instructed via radio from the pews. Devotional music was thereby bouncing around off of the walls and it was quite a lovely experience.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the attendants informed me that they needed to begin preparing the Cathedral for a scheduled ceremony, and gave me a deadline as far as how long I could continue shooting. The fellow was actually quite gracious, pointing out several small details for my consideration.
This is definitively a location I’m going to return to, here in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. I will also say it again – WOW!
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Monumental Pittsburgh
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in earlier posts, a particular walking path was recently followed in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section which was landmarks based, and topical in nature – rather than granular. This was a ‘short walk’ for me, just a couple of hours in length, and it was more about developing a geospatial knowledge of this zone, which is an area I’d mainly driven through in the past to individual destinations like the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, or the Rodef Shalom and Poale Zedek Synagogues.
That’s the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, dedicated to honoring all branches of these United States’ Military Veterans. It was completed in 1910, and designed by architect Henry Hornbostel.
Hornbostel, of course, is the fellow who dressed the Manhattan Bridge, back in NYC, in its Beaux-Arts finery. He also designed the nearby Rodef Shalom synagogue here in Pittsburgh, mentioned above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Charles Klauder, on the other hand, was the architect of the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh (aka PITT) campus, a 42 story tower building called the Cathedral of Learning.
One was heading for two particular churches, other than Bellefield Presbyterian which was mentioned yesterday, on my landmarks list. The Cathedral of Learning was a just ‘on my way’ sort of thing. My understanding of the place is that are sections of the tower that are public, but most of the space inside is used for PITT’s classroom instruction purposes.
As a note, one great thing about Oakland is that it’s the flattest section of Pittsburgh I’ve so far encountered, and is thereby ‘easy walking.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Where I was heading to next, and the subject of tomorrow’s post, is the St. Paul Cathedral. That’s the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Future exploration in Oakland, as a side note, will definitely occur during the winter months. Lots and lots of monumental architecture here. Giant buildings built in Greek and Roman styles abound. I’m concocting a grid based search pattern for future walks in the area.
Back tomorrow, with more, at your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Bellefield Presbyterian, Oakland
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Since moving to Pittsburgh a year ago, a humble narrator has gone out of his way to avoid exploration of dense urban spaces, for obvious reasons. My peregrinations have been mainly focused on learning the ‘lay of the land,’ familiarizing myself with ‘what’s on the other side of that hill,’ and learning how the polyglot of the Pittsburgh metro area fits together. A lovely early November afternoon found me violating this allergy to density, and scuttling about for a few hours in the Oakland section of the Steel City.
This is the heart of Pittsburgh’s Academia – PITT and Carnegie Mellon’s campuses collide with those of smaller colleges and universities in and around Oakland, and there are several medical and cultural institutions which are based in this zone. Museums, parks, musical outfits, all that. There seems to be a Church hereabouts for every facet of religion that you can name, as well, and one of those religious institutions which drew my eye is called the Bellefield Presbyterian Church, pictured above.
There’s an excellent history and concise description of the congregation on offer from Pittsburgh’s National Public Radio station (90.5 FM WESA), which you can access here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The door was locked, but a bit of signage welcomed visitors to ring a doorbell for entry, which I did, and the church’s attendant buzzed me in. As always, I operate in the same manner as a Vampire, and need to be welcomed in to do my thing. She offered a bit of access to the main chapel room, after I sang my usual song of being a wandering photographer and history aficionado.
She offered to fire up the church’s lighting, but I declined the offer. I really liked the look of the place in shadow, and that also helped with photo exposure in terms of getting some detail in the stained glass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A bit of subsequent research on the church revealed that this church has recently split off from the larger Presbyterian organization, seemingly over a variety of ‘culture war’ issues, a situation described in this report from ‘The Layman.’
The Bellefield organization’s official website offers another narrative history about the congregation, and describes their mission – here.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Driven to scuttle
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yet another day on my exercise schedule arrived, during which I’d be visiting a few parts of Pittsburgh – which I’ve had fleeting glimpses of – but haven’t taken a ‘hard look’ at yet. I drove into town, and was frustrated at my initial destination while waiting for a train to come by.
Plan B was instituted thereby, and I navigated the Mobile Oppression Platform (MOP) from Pittsburgh’s North Side over to the neighborhood of Oakland. By design, this was going to be a short walk.
Along the way, I got this shot by sticking the camera up through the moon roof while waiting for a red light to change.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Oakland is defined by the presence of its universities and cultural institutions. University of Pittsburgh (PITT) and Carnegie Mellon are housed here, as are several smaller institutions of higher learning, and it’s a densely populated section of this municipality. Lots and lots of students and scholars reside here, most temporarily in dorms and such, and it’s a lot more ‘urban’ than most of the Pittsburgh area is.
There’s also a lot of hospitals and professional offices in Oakland, thereby there’s ample and fairly cheap parking. The MOP was thereby safely ensconced (which cost me seven bucks for an ‘all day’ spot), and I set out on foot. As is my habit, I had a few navigational ‘anchors’ which I would be heading towards set up in a Google map.
Serendipity is always appreciated, but if you’re not walking towards ‘something,’ you’re wandering aimlessly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This may look like a ‘street,’ but it’s actually an alley. Most of NYC’s streets look like this, with the wires and garbage but without angle in parking. Here, it’s an alley.
Pittsburgh is full of such roadway designations, and it’s where commercial and residential building take deliveries and put out their trash for collection or host parking lots for customers and employees. Less than salubrious stuff occurs in these sorts of corridors as well, and when somebody in Pittsburgh tells you not to walk down some dark alley at night, it’s not just a metaphor.
Back next week with more sights from Pittsburgh’s Oakland at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 