Archive for the ‘Pennsylvania’ Category
…rise and look around you…
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last ‘portrait shot’ of Pittsburgh’s Downtown was gathered, and your humble narrator packed the tripod back up into its assigned spot on my camera bag and got moving. A couple of overly ambitious trail routes leading away from this location had been considered for my walk, but I’m not 100% on the ankle front yet and discretion is the better part of valor.
Best to stick to paved surfaces for now, and take advantage of the sloping nature of one of these roads to exercise and stretch the tendons and discrete musculature surrounding the ankle and heel of my left foot.
Forward, ever forward…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I ended up chatting with the guy in the shot above, who was smoking a cigarette while drinking a coffee. His name was Gus and he’s lived up here for more than twenty years, according to our conversation. Nice guy.
I’m told by friends that my habit of talking to strangers is weird.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Closer to the incline, you start seeing signs of life (other than Gus). Right about here is where another random conversation with strangers occurred, as a young mom with a Canon Rebel spotted my camera and started asking questions about lenses, technique, and such.
After a quick and salubrious exchange, I was back on my way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, it was ‘leg day,’ and the shot above offer some suggestion as to why I chose this particular route up and down Grandview Avenue. The buildings on the left enjoy uninterrupted views of the Three Rivers/Downtown area. There’s a few restaurants and cocktail bars ‘with a view’ sprinkled in along this route, but it’s mostly residential in this stretch.
The bum ankle was performing as expected, I’d mention. A bit of discomfort, but I’m not getting the weird sensation of tightness in my heel anymore.
Stretch and strengthen, don’t ‘protect’ the ankle, push on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I desperately wanted to walk the entire length of Grandview Avenue and access a different and quite well wooded pathway along natural surfaces, one which snakes down the face of Mount Washington, but again – have to reign in my ambitions until I’m ready to surmount real physical challenges again.
Can’t wait for that actually. That’s a problem I’m trying to keep in check.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The pathway I’d use to get back down to the flood plane level along the Monongahela River would be the PJ McArdle roadway, which has been mentioned here and trod upon many times. Along the way, I encountered an apparently unhoused fellow whom I think might have taken a step over towards Zombie. The bad smell, a blackened discoloration at the ends of his limbs, milky white eyes… it all said zombie.
There’s a history of this sort of thing happening in Pittsburgh, just look at the Pittsburgh incident of 1968, and also the one that was centered around nearby Monroeville in 1978.
Back tomorrow with more.
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“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.
on a clear day…
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A walk down Pittsburgh’s Grandview Avenue was recently undertaken, and whereas I wasn’t specifically intending to do any ‘portrait shots’ of Pittsburgh when leaving HQ… how can you just ignore the set up from way up here?
That’s downtown Pittsburgh pictured above, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, where their admixture creates the Ohio River. Commanding views all around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one looks westwards along the Ohio, and catches a CSX freight train leaving the frame at center left. The tracks at far left that are set further up the hill are Norfolk Southern’s, and that highway looking primary arterial roadway is called West Carson Street. This is the southern bank of the Ohio River, as a note.
The tripod got set up for these, given that I was dialed all the way out on the zoom lens. I plan on finding some walking pathways through that shot above this summer. The West Carson corridor offers sidewalks, but it’s a high speed road and walking along it could best be described as ‘no bueno.’ The speed limit is 35 mph, but it’s fairly common for people to do 70 or 80 along this lightly policed stretch of road.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks across the river at the Ohio’s northern bank, with I-279 rammed through an industrial zone. A subsequent walk, which will be detailed in future postings, was recently undertaken in this zone. As is often stated, I remain fascinated by parabolas, and sweeping curves of high speed roads and their ramps.
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.
All the way up
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor found your humble narrator marching about on Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington, specifically on ‘Grandview Avenue,’ a local street which hugs the ridge of the landform and which provides commanding views of the city and its confluence of the three rivers. This is also a fairly hilly route, with a couple of substantial ups and downs, so a recent exercise day started there. Luckily there was a construction site, which I used to gauge the proper exposure for this particular set of conditions by focusing in on some construction equipment.
The goal for the day was to walk around five miles, horizontally, while also planning in a lot of sloping pathways. All good for the ankle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a lovely day in Pittsburgh, breezy and in the high 60’s with no expectation of rain. I was packed up in the usual manner, as far as camera and gear go, with one new exception. Got myself a wide brimmed fishing hat for long walks in direct sun like this one.
On sale at Costco, cheap.
I really like Mount Washington, it should be mentioned, and apparently so do a lot of other people. Rental units, and housing valuations, up here along Grandview Avenue are pretty high by Pittsburgh standard. Views are a serious magnifier of real estate pricing wherever you go, I guess.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a hiking trail (partially pictured) on Mount Washington’s face which I’m going to try and tackle when my ankle is fully recovered. Theoretically that’s going to be the end of the summer, according to all the Docs. Imagine it, I’m visiting this site and you’re not hearing me endlessly complain about breaking my ankle last year. What can I tell you? It was a profound and life altering injury, and it’s still very much present in my day to day.
Back tomorrow with more – 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.
Catching, and backing, up
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Shots from the archives populate today’s post.
I’m a bit behind schedule at the moment, with literally hundreds of new shots on my computer’s hard drive awaiting processing. Rather than rush the photos out, and since all of my deadlines here are basically self imposed, this post is instead carrying a few shots of trains captured as they were moving around Pittsburgh. Taking a breath, me.
Your humble narrator has been busy preparing for some light travel, which will involve returning to NYC for a few days in early June. Tugboats, Newtown Creek, and whatever happens directly in front of me are what I’m planning on shooting in between visiting friends and family.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m traveling as light as I can, and will be flying in this time. Last time I came to town, I drove in from PA and having the car with me was like dragging a cross around. It kept me from doing a few things as I couldn’t park the damn thing just about anywhere I wanted to be. At the bottom of my camera bag will be a few t-shirts, skivvies, and socks. A toothbrush and basic toiletry kit will also be needed, but beyond that it’s all camera gear in there. This will be a mission.
A statement of priority that is. I’m planning on returning to Pittsburgh with hundreds if not thousands of photos. Can’t wait to see what’s changed for better or worse ‘back in the old neighborhood’ in the last three years. I actually have no plans to visit Astoria.
Also – as a note – if I was still in Astoria/LIC they never would have gotten away with demolishing the fountain in front of the court house. I would have forced the electeds into action and marshaled a protest or ten. I’m disappointed, but not surprised, at the apathy for the history of the place in the modern population and elected officials of LIC. Y’all should really pay attention to this sort of stuff, in between arguing about bike lanes and subjecting each other to political purity tests.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ll be back next week with another series of posts describing the random places which draw my interest, of course.
In the meantime, I’m pruning my camera bag down to its maximum efficiency, and planning the NYC trip in granular detail. When I return to PA from NYC, I’m feeling a certain curiosity about nearby West Virginia for some reason, and intend to visit Weirton – which is somehow only a 40 minute drive from where I dwell. You can park there, I’m told.
I’ve also got a few day trips I want to do as summer arrives – a return to PA’s Oil City, and to Maryland’s Cumberland, also – there’s an ex coal mine which does tours nearby Pittsburgh… lots and lots of stuff. I’ve watched a few videos about the PA Trolley Museum, and thereby it’s drifted fairly low on my list. I’ll get there, but the whole thing seems remarkably unexciting.
Back next week.
“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.
Homesteading
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Easter Sunday found me lurking in the confines of Homestead, PA.
That’s a meditative labyrinth in the shot above, and I hung around this spot for about twenty minutes until some group of hippies who were walking it had moved on. I had zero hope for a train moving over that bridge, although it’s something I look for whenever I’m in this area.
Circumstance had carried me here, but I wasn’t really ‘feeling it’ as far as walking and shooting goes. There’s great opportunities nearby, but not so much on Easter Sunday. Trains in particular were completely absent, which is saying something amazing for anyone who is familiar with the normal frequency of locomotive traffic in Homestead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The campus of the former steel mill here has been converted into a sprawling shopping and entertainment complex called ‘The Waterfront,’ which seems to be pretty successful. The actual town of Homestead is up in the hills overlooking the Waterfront. It’s kind of different banana up there, observationally, but I’ve only chatted with a few people that live in this area. One friend hated it, and complained constantly about the train noise. As soon as his lease was up, he moved away seeking quiet.
The longer I live in Pittsburgh, the more that I perceive ‘corridors.’ When people move around in the region, they’ll stick to these corridors. Sometimes the corridor is formed by a high speed or volume road, such as a highway or an interstate, but it could also be a high volume local road that forms the corridor. I began exploring this concept back in Queens, when I would call Northern Blvd. ‘The Carridor’ or talk about Roosevelt Avenue as being the ‘7 train corridor’ and so on.
Homestead seems to be part of a ‘corridor’ which includes nearby Munhall and Duquesne, West Mifflin, Rankin, Swissvale, Braddock, Clairton, which are all connected physically by a series of ‘back roads’ running through the hills, and socially by churches and the diasporic families which attend their services. These back roads were carved out of the landscape by the steel industry, apparently, and residential development just followed the roads.
Fascinating.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I decided to get all fancy for this one, given that without the razzle dazzle of a train moving over the bridge it was otherwise a fairly plain image… so the tripod was set up, and a filter applied to the lens and… well there you are.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 