Elliott Erwitt “Pittsburgh 1950”

International Center of Photography

This event has ended.

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 until Vaughn Wallace, now a senior photo editor at National Geographic, rediscovered the archive. Elliott Erwitt: Pittsburgh 1950 was organized by Assistant Curator Claartje van Dijk in collaboration with the photographer. The exhibition was made possible with the support of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.