Pittsburgh exhibit director tells tale of Steel City history

On what he called a ‘very typical Pittsburgh, crappy day,’ a Pittsburgh museum director… On what he called a ‘very typical Pittsburgh, crappy day,’ a Pittsburgh museum director discussed something else very typically Pittsburgh.’ Ron Baraff, the director of collections and archives of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, spoke in Pitt’s Information Science Building Friday about the ‘Seeing Pittsburgh’ project.’ The exhibit, which was housed in the Bost Building, 621 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead, last July through this past Saturday, includes a book, gallery of photos, interviews and video podcasts. It is meant to capture a snapshot of Pittsburgh and its neighborhoods in the present moment, from the perspective of the everyday community member.’ The project was meant to encompass all of Pittsburgh. It aimed to include as diverse a demographic of neighborhoods and people as possible.’ Baraff and Emig said that they contacted a community center in nearly every Pittsburgh neighborhood to ask them to participate. The exhibit included the photos and stories of 44 Pittsburghers ranging in age from 7 to mid-70s.’ They chose a total of 11 neighborhoods to display and ‘incorporate that different-ness’ that Pittsburgh possesses, said Emig.’ ‘ Armed with disposable cameras and guidelines, the group of makeshift photographers set out to their neighborhoods to capture and illustrate, through photos and written explanations, anything and everything that defines their communities regardless of whether it is good, bad, ugly, beautiful, old or new.’ ‘We asked them to take photographs specifically about their neighborhood,’ said Emig. ‘Walk around, look at their neighborhood, see what defines their neighborhood and what makes it different from every other neighborhood.”