Repeating Patterns
Repeating Patterns
Have we always topped our most important structures with spires or towers that reach for the sky? I finally decided to capture a photo I’ve been wanting to get for years. I had to park my car and walk to a spot where I could photograph this because it wasn’t one I could get through my windshield while driving. I usually don’t take the time, but for this one, on this beautiful autumn day in Pittsburgh, I decided to take the time to get the domes of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church on the South Side with the spire-tipped buildings of downtown Pittsburgh in the background. Old and new, religious and secular, A handful of buildings along the river and a church with onion-shaped domes in gold and patina and several three-bar crosses, it’s one of the things that looks like home to me, important to the people who live here. Below is the full view, including the high-school football field and the homes surrounding.
The church, the city and the high school football field.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Friendship Friday on Create With Joy
No. 27
Walking down the alley in early autumn darkness, No. 27 showed its welcoming arc of light.
Copyright (c) 2015 Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Streets of North Side, Pittsburgh
Galveston Street, North Side, Pittsburgh
Part of the “Mexican War Streets”, this neighborhood is a Pittsburgh original, once the destination for the city’s most wealthy, then in the way city neighborhoods often decline and rise again, a good bit of it fell to ruins but is now being revived, as the buildings themselves just waited for their time to come around again.
Galveston Street, North Side, Pittsburgh, another view
This neighborhood is one of the oldest in Pittsburgh, and was at one time a separate municipality from Pittsburgh named Allegheny, laid out in 1788 and incorporated in 1828, featuring orderly brick streets and a mix of Victorian-era row houses, middle-class family homes and stately mansions softened by street trees.
Originally, lots and homes were awarded to Revolutionary War veterans. As the century wore on, this sophisticated and attractive urban metropolis became the first home to Pittsburgh’s millionaire industrialists. After the Mexican War, General William Robinson subdivided his plot of land and named all the streets after battles in the Mexican War, attracting even more wealthy homeowners; this photo is a section of the Mexican War Streets, sections of which are on the National Record of Historic Places.
West North Avenue, North Side, Pittsburgh
Along with many other industries that found a home along the Allegheny River near the Point in Pittsburgh, the original H. J. Heinz factory built its home in Allegheny and employed generations of people in creating the “Heinz 57” varieties of pickled vegetables, relishes and chutneys, and many other condiments.
And who grew up in Allegheny City, or North Side? Mary Cassatt, Gertrude Stein, Martha Graham, Kate Harrington, George Washington Harris, John Pitcairn and Art Rooney, to name a few. And who else lived there? Mary Roberts Rinehart, Henry Phipps, H.J. Heinz, Andrew Carnegie, Henry O Tanner, Colonel James Anderson, William Thaw, Jr., Lois Weber and William Penn Snyder. And, of course, Andrew Carnegie built a library here. It must have been a hotbed of creative talent in those early days to have nurtured the likes of those people and attracted so many others. And lots of money.
It merged with the City of Pittsburgh in 1907 but maintained its small-town feel until “urban renewal” in the 1960s took out the original town center and replaced it with a mall and hotel, another portion was removed for highways and overpasses, and “old” sections of neighborhoods were removed because they were “old” and replaced with “new” multi-story modern style brick buildings, removing just enough of various neighborhoods to destroy their cohesion. The mansions of Millionaire’s Row on Ridge Avenue were largely incorporated into Community College of Allegheny County.
But you’ve got to call it the “Nor’side” now, even if it is becoming quite gentrified.
You can see more photos of the North Side, or “Allegheny City”, in this archive.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Fine Detail
Fine Detail
I’ve been spending some time there lately, taking photographs of an upcoming performance, so it’s only natural that I photograph the grand building itself. The late afternoon sun at an angle had just the right amount of highlight and shadow to show up all the Italianate filigree on the Music Hall entrance, including the “C” medallions for “Carnegie” between the doors.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Grand Entrance
Grand Entrance
This is the entranceway into a very Victorian building, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, founded and built so that city folk could get some exercise through everyday sports. The building had such wonderful details but this ceiling stopped me in my tracks.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Inside and Out
Inside and Out
Though the photo looks old, it’s not, but the building is, and on a misty, snowy winter day the rest of the city around the building is misted out while the Victorian light fixtures and gingerbread appear. And the tromp l’oeil of the semi-circular awning reflected in the glass makes it look like a dome, though half of it is indoors.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Signs of Hope
Signs of Hope
Just a thought.
And if you want to see the door without the text…
Signs of Hope
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Broken Dreams
Broken Dreams
The blue sky is broken apart by shattered window panes and even by the tattered hole in the roof of this grand old industrial building. Even the old Victorian bentwood and wicker chair is going to pieces. Such dreams lived here.
The leaves have fallen from the trees, and such things are now in full view.
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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Diner Greeting Committee
Diner Greeting Committee
Especially welcome on a rainy day.
The photo was so dull and underexposed I did major manipulations to color and contrast, and then applied a “poster edges” filter in Photoshop. I photographed it thinking it would make a good watercolor someday but wasn’t sure I could pull it off with all the colors so dull, now I think it will be okay.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
American Trouser Company Today
American Trouser Company Today
This is a ghost sign of a company that was once founded and housed in this building on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh. I can’t find much of the history but photographing the building was interesting, the mix of older, slightly worn brick and even the hinges left from window shutters. The windows have obviously been replaced, but I also liked the rich red of the brick at that time of day, early evening, contrasting with the teal of the window frames, yet the building, obviously built more than a century ago, still has strength and vitality. They still exist, but not in Pittsburgh. I found this old sales receipt on this site.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
Brickwork
Brickwork
From the sidewalk to the sky and from facade to interior door this church makes a statement in brick work.
All that red makes a nice statement too.
On Pittsburgh’s North Side.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
Forgotten Entrance
Forgotten Entrance
This once stately entrance appears to be forgotten, though it’s actually the front door of the home. It’s on one of the lovely brownstones on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
All images in this post are copyright © Bernadette E. Kazmarski and may not be used without prior written permission.
Passing Storm
Passing Storm
Billowing clouds parted as the storm hurried on to other destinations leaving this Queen Anne style home soaked and silhouetted; East Liberty, Pittsburgh.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
The Vertical Neighborhood
Polish Hill, Pittsburgh
Polish Hill has long called itself “Pittsburgh’s most vertical neighborhood” and you can see that you are on the edge of a very steep street, and with the descending roofs of the buildings on the left this street is at least one example of that designation. They are all pretty steep, many just as steep as this one, and all dominated by Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church where mass is still said daily in Polish, the industrial and warehouse district of Pittsburgh beyond, and the Allegheny River and the 31st Street Bridge beyond that. It has its share of immigrants and descendants of immigrants and working people and young people, all clinging to the hillside.
Below is another shot I found interesting because I liked the bike parked by the rail at the top of the hill, and still the church over all; these buildings are the backs of the ones seen in the photo above. But it was a dark snowy day and there was an ambulance behind me so I had no time to get out of my car to get the photo. One of these days I’ll go back.
A bike at the top of the hill.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
My Neighborhood
My neighborhood.
It’s always fun to look at your home from a distance. My house is a little off-center on this hillside, and very tiny! But I know each of the houses on that hill after living there 23 years, walking for my errands or riding my bike, or just looking at others’ gardens and getting to know my neighbors. I like this view with the leaves down and the hillside in early evening shadow, the umbers of bare trees and forest green of the spruces and pines a deep backdrop to each home’s color, brick or siding, and roof.
Different Opinions
Different Opinions
Each of these windows has something different to say about the condition of this building.
I’ve been watching the Thepitt Building in Carnegie slowly fall to pieces for years. The brick walls are sound for the most part, but each of the classic old 6/6 wooden-frame double-hung windows has weathered the time in its own fashion, from broken panes to missing panes to those remaining reflecting its own little section of the sky, some windows with dilapidated blinds still hanging and others with chairs and desks visible and even views of the sky through the roof, or where the roof should be. It’s just fantastic in its downfall, though only a few years ago there were still businesses in this building.
Interesting how different it looks in color, less stark, possibly more details, yet it’s the same message.
Different Opinions
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Settling Into Evening
Settling Into Evening
Sunset fading orange casts a warm glow on snow-covered rooftops and streets; shadows tinge violet. Houses, mill and more houses march across the valley in courses, filling from one hill to the next.
Snowy Rooftops
Snowy Rooftops at Dusk
Dusk is falling yet the snow reflects light from the sky in its violet-dusk way, each home capped with a pale violet rectangle.
Modern
modern.
It’s an interesting contrast in the fifties-era look of the street corner contrasted with the young guy talking on a cell phone, all on a winter morning so frosty that a winter morning haze developed.
I love that tangle of wires, too. It’s on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Mission Street, Pittsburgh
Mission Street, Pittsburgh
The rain stopped and the sun came out. Narrow and curving, clinging to the side of a steep hill, and dominated by a church with a dome, that’s Pittsburgh.
Abandoned
Abandoned
An abandoned and derelict house stares defiantly toward the road, the very fact it still stands, though tattered, an indication of its strength. Its siding has lost its paint, its windows their glass, and one by one the muntin bars loosen, angle, and fall from their casements, the interior is open to the elements, but the house will stand until the last board falls. The legs of an old metal swing set creep into the edge of the image, an idea that someone, somewhere, remembers this place.
Getting Around in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Steps and Bridges
Wooden steps down into a ravine and a suspension bridge above it, that’s how you deal with the landscape around here. The bridge shown is the Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge over Junction Hollow, adjacent to Panther Hollow, and is one of the bridges connecting Oakland to Schenley Park, near where all the colleges are. It’s almost 800 feet long and is about 120 ft. high above the trail below. Dedicated in 1940 it’s a relative newcomer to the landscape though it replaced a 1907 bridge, using the original limestone abutments, and has a relatively rare type of bridge construction. Charles Anderson served on Pittsburgh’s city council, was a local and state labor leader and served labor in the federal government during WWI. The road this bridge connects is the Boulevard of the Allies, so named in honor and memory of WWI.
I always like the shade of turquoise used on bridges when the landscape is the warm brown of late autumn and early winter, you always know it’s a bridge up ahead, whether it’s a one-lane over a stream on a country road or a six-lane over a river on a highway. The rails, usually painted this gold, are often in this art-deco pattern from this era when most of our current bridges were built.
The wooden steps are quite new, though, built to allow access to both a few homes partway down the hillside to the ravine, and to Junction Hollow Trail which you can see way down at the bottom through the railing on the steps. There is also an access road to get the the trail and the houses, but it’s miles away around neighborhoods and through Oakland to get there. On these hills, you’ll find plenty of streets marked on maps that will turn out to be a long, steep set of steps when you get there.
Bridges
Entering the arch.
I got stuck in traffic on a sunny day, taken on a detour of about three miles over the course of an hour, so I took pictures.
Pittsburgh’s 16th Street Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and is an interesting structure, unlike other single through-arch bridges, this one is a double arch, and the arches are lower, with stone pillars holding metal sculptures at each end. It’s painted yellow like so many of our bridges.
I really wanted to get this shot without the car in front of me—impossible because of the slowly moving line of traffic—but when I looked at the photos I found I liked the car where it was.
End of Season, 2011
End of Season
I got to the Farmer’s Market at the last minute on its last day, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to find just three vendors. I got my half-bushel of Honey Crisp apples to last the winter, some cabbage and a few tomatoes, plus squashes and talked to them about next season as they packed up.
The farmer’s market in August.
I had thought it was a little busier this year, and the vendors agreed that while Friday night was about the same as always, other nights had picked up business with more people cooking at home perhaps and looking for good quality fresh produce, really fresh. I had also noticed many other ethnicities and their attire, saris, kaftans, colorful skirts, turbans, and guessed at the languages recognizing Ukrainian and Polish and Russian, also Hindi, Farsi, German, what sounded like Finnish or Norwegian, and dialects of English from the British Isles.
This Farmer’s Market is the oldest in the area, opening right after World War II, with 40 vendors three nights a week at the height of the season. Farmers come from seven counties to be there. I wrote another article about it in September when it was busiest, and here’s a photo of what it normally looks like.
Today 