Archive for June 2024
A Short walk, around HQ
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent day found a humble narrator positively crawling the walls and needing a bit of exercise to burn off the severity of ‘a mood.’ I didn’t have time for a long walk, and it was incredibly warm and humid out as well. Since I was ‘all tuned up,’ and couldn’t afford a long time interval for distance, I’d instead head for one of several local sets of municipal steps instead, for a quick burn.
Camera and bag on my shoulder, one lumbered down to a spot about two blocks away from HQ, which leads to one of the many ‘City Steps’ of Pittsburgh. I’d break a sweat, and chew my way upwards to the prominence of the steep hill which I live at the bottom of.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned in the past that there’s a small gorge which starts directly across the street from HQ, and it’s one that’s very well wooded. To this alien New Yorker’s eye, the urban forest which is laced throughout Pittsburgh is a fascinating feature, and one which compliments its batshit crazy terrain. These steps allow one to accomplish five to six stories of vertical climb and travel over the groin of two steep hills. The steps are strung along a heavily wooded path, which a trickle of water flows through. It’s not quite a stream down there, but it’s something.
There’s an army of critters living in this patch of woods – deer, woodchucks, squirrels, raccoons, you name it. There’s also Chipmunks, which are adorable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the prominence of the hill, which is arrived at after leaving the safety of the forested steps and walking on a sidewalkless and quite busy road for about 1,000 feet, one finds themselves on a street called Broadway Avenue. This is sort of tertiary arterial street, but with the predominant square footage of its path devoted to mass transit – aka ‘The T’ light rail.
This is in Dormont, which is the ‘Boro’ or town I’m living in. Next door and over the hill, in the Beechview section, the T’s tracks are set into the vehicle lanes, and it shares a path with buses and automobiles.
Back next week 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.
Moonrise at Carrie Furnace
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has traveled a bit over the years. In Greece, for instance, I visited the ruins of the Acropolis in Athens, Minoan and Frankish castellations in Crete and the Peloponnesus, and the cave where Zeus was born was also visited on that fantastic and perplexing island.
Carrie Furnace in Pittsburgh reminds me of those experiences – cyclopean ruinations, left behind by an earlier civilization which reached great heights before collapsing.
The Carrie Furnace site, as described previously, is a ‘National Historic Place’ cared for by a non profit outfit called ‘Rivers of Steel.’ Said nonprofit looks after several other locations in the ‘Mon Valley,’ but Carrie is their ‘big one.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a labyrinth of corridors, walkways, and chambers to wander through here. If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, definitely try to secure a tour or buy in on a photo safari here – it’s kind of a unique experience.
At any rate, I’m going to be taking a break from Carrie for a while, as I’ve been here several times in the last year. This place is like a ‘honey trap’ for someone like me, and I’m still trying to actively explore the larger area, and not get bogged down by rabbit holes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The moon was rising as I shot this last photo. Sunset was meant to be occurring about 8:30 something on this evening, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so a colorful vault wasn’t going to be happening. It was time to return the loaner hardhat back to the Carrie people, and fire up the Mobile Oppression Platform for a 30 minute or so drive back to HQ.
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.
Carrie the load, wontcha?
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is one of the two remaining furnaces left standing at the Carrie Furnace ruins, here in Pittsburgh. Chatting with a member of the Rivers of Steel operation, which looks after the ruins of this steel mill and offers programming at this historic site, I was informed that ‘back in the day,’ being in this area during the active manufacturing era would have required specialized garments to vouchsafe your flesh against the heat that was being generated during the steel making process. Just being in this chamber without the protective material was life threatening.
The fellow whom I was chatting with had actually worked here, and he filled me in on the dangers of this profession prior to OSHA regulations and an era full before personal injury attorneys were a thing.
One task that he described as having a career lifetime of no more than 3-4 years, due to crippling lung injuries which were caused by inhaling a miasma of superheated chemicals. When the company had to let you go due from that position to being unable to work anymore at 20, you’d get a week’s pay and that was it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hell on earth is what was being described to me, essentially.
Back in NYC, I knew lots and lots of blue collar types who had incredibly dangerous gigs. Longshoremen, sailors, sewer plant employees. One of my pals is an engineer who digs tunnels, and I know another guy who builds elevators. Both have described their day to day to me, much of which sounds like pure nightmare fuel, to one such as myself.
Titanic forces are at work in certain trades, and one slip up can mean crippling injury or a horrific death (in some cases, you’re lucky if it’s the latter). Most of the boat people I knew back home were missing at least one joint of a finger.
Steel manufacture was, and is, one of those sorts of jobs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Personally, I’ve had a lot of lousy jobs over the years, but nothing terribly dangerous. At one job back in college, I literally shoveled shit. At another, I was part of team of doofus’s who moved multi million dollar statues around from gallery to gallery and mansion to mansion.
A favorite work memory of mine was when I was an aquarium serviceman. On the surface it sounds nice, but then you aren’t thinking about carrying joint compound buckets full of salt water fish (and hand warmers) onto and off the subway (during the 1980’s), and traipsing around the city with 70-80 pounds of water on each arm and a diatom filter with all of its supplies in a bag on your back. The actual job wasn’t terribly hard… if you’ve ever kept a tropical salt water aquarium you know the routine. Rich people don’t like to get their hands dirty, which is where my boss and I came in.
My boss and I would start our day at a trade shop on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, then park his car somewhere in Downtown Brooklyn. We’d hop on the train with our gear and livestock for the day.
Y’know those giant salt water aquariums that used to occupy the entryway of every fancy pants Chinese restaurant in midtown? Yeah, that was us.
Never had to deal with air temperatures that had a comma in them, though. Can’t imagine the existential hell that the laborers here experienced.
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.
Carrie’ing
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More from Pittsburgh’s Carrie Furnace, in today’s post –
As mentioned yesterday, on this outing I was primarily using a wide angle 16mm lens, attempting to capture more of an environmental feel in these shots. This particular focal length is slightly wider than the range of human vision (theoretically 22-24mm, depending on how big your head is), and whereas the thing has certain limitations, it’s a fun gizmo and allows for POV’s that are a bit different as compared to my normal dealie.
These photos safari’s at Carrie are a lot of fun, I’d mention. You more or less get free roam (with a few limitations), and can follow the tip of your nose about the campus for several hours. I also love the whole post industrial thing, with its rusty desolations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the odd things about the 16mm is how close to a subject you have to get. Normally, I’d stand about 7-8 feet back to get a shot like the one in frame above, whereas the 16mm’s quirks caused me to have to get within about two feet of the locomotive in the foreground.
Yeah, there’s fisheye distortion, but it is what it is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
About half way through the three hour session, I forced myself into a quick sit down, and gulped some water from a flask I was carrying. After a disastrous experience a couple of weeks ago, I’ve acceded to biology and started carrying water with me, even though having a vessel of liquid anywhere near my camera bag fills me with an existential dread.
Water is also pretty heavy, and there’s an inevitable moment when you’ve got to piss again…
Back tomorrow with more.
“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.
Carrie that, furnace this
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent Sunday evening found one at Pittsburgh’s Carrie Furnace, once again, and attending a ‘photo safari.’ This time around I had pre-decided on using a wide angle 16mm lens, one which I’ve been enjoying the use of lately, as my primary weapon. It was affixed to the camera, the tripod was deployed, and thusly did your humble narrator ‘get busy.’
Carrie Furnace is a ruination, the ‘left behind,’ of a former steel mill found alongside the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh’s Swissvale section. This facility was once a part of the similarly abandoned Homestead mill complex, which was – in turn – once the largest example of such an industrial installation in these United States or – in fact – the world.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The opportunity to visit the site cost me $35, and was marketed both to myself and all the other lookie-loos as a ‘photo safari.’
You’re obliged to receive a quick safety primer from a representative of the ‘Rivers of Steel’ non profit outfit, who care for the site, and during said talk they point out restrictions on where you can and cannot go. You’re also required to wear a hard hat, which is a sensible precaution given the crumbling state of the surviving buildings.
I got started with the clicking and the whirring. I’ve been told that this section of the plant is where materials would be weighed and measured out on their way to the actual furnace, where they’d then be exposed to volcanic temperatures in pursuance of created admixtures needed for steel manufacture.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The small but powerful flashlight I carry with me was deployed, and a second or two of intense light was actuated from the thing for ‘fill light.’
This photo safari was designated as being a ‘sunset’ experience, but unfortunately at this time of year the sun doesn’t dip down behind Ohio until about 8:30 p.m., at which time I was actually starting the car to head back to HQ. No sunset for me, but… Still…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been here a few times at this point, and my last visit was during a pleasant morning just a few weeks ago, so this is likely going to be the last of Carrie Furnace that you’ll be seeing here – for a few months at least.
Saying that, it’s been a real pleasure every time I’ve visited the place. I like ‘perfecting’ a series of shots, after gaining familiarity with a location. Initial visits are sort like taking a visual survey for me, while behind the camera. After gaining some experience with a location, you go in with a plan based on prior experience, and prior shoots.
From this ideation is whence my ‘wide angle’ scheme for this visit had emerged.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I could spend months here, actually, picking out small details. What I was going for in this visit, instead, was to try and capture the cyclopean scale of things.
Everything on this campus is truly huge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot is the opposite POV to the first one in today’s post, and the concrete structure with the trackway on top of it is the very corridor that I was shooting within in shots 2,3,4, and 5.
Embedded below is a detail crop from this photo, which captures an image of the site plan map for Carrie Furnace that the Rivers of Steel people have displayed for perusal.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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 