Originally shot in May 2013 and the composite created the same week, this picture was printed on stretched canvas. It’s been one of my favorite pictures and has been shown often at art fairs and other displays of physical art.
The piece depicts a blast furnace at US Steel’s Edgar Thompson Mill in Braddock, PA (just outside Pittsburgh.) ET continues to operate as a fully integrated mill. Named after his mentor while he worked at the Pennsylvania Railroad and later his best customer, it was Andrew Carnegie’s flagship mill. Across the Monongahela River is the Kennywood Amusement Park with the roller coaster just barely visible.
For the thousands upon thousands of workers who have gone through the mills during the last century and a half and the communities impacted by the boom and bust cycles and environmental havoc unleashed by the steel barons it’s been a wild ride.
I showed it again this month at Cafe Bold in West Reading, PA. This time, the canvas sold within an hour of hanging the show. When I went to look for it on my website to promote the show, I discovered, lo and behold, I never included it in a web gallery. So here it is. Prints on paper will continue to be made available.