W Eugene Smith - Pittsburgh (1955-57)

"Don't expect a point-by-point, hand-led tour. This is an experience as an intensely curious visitor (perhaps a new resident) might discover it," wrote W. Eugene Smith as he began his Pittsburgh project. 

Begun in 1955, Smith had just resigned from his high profile but stormy post at "Life" magazine. He was commissioned to spend three weeks in Pittsburgh and produce 100 photos for a book commemorating the city's bicentennial, "Pittsburgh: Story of an American City", by noted journalist and author Stefan Lorant. Smith stayed a year, compiling nearly 17,000 photographs for what would be the most ambitious photographic essay of his life, his intended magnum opus. 

Smith believed Pittsburgh was an ideal subject for exposing the conflicts of 1950s America, and he aimed to create a photo essay that captured the complexity both of the city and the modern world. Viewed together, Smith's Pittsburgh photographs present images of hope and despair, poverty and affluence, solitude and togetherness.