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For the past two months, I have been photographing Pittsburgh and documenting the way COVID-19 changed life as we knew it. In March, one of our first Pittsburgh City Paper issues printed during the pandemic featured a cover with my photograph of an eerily quiet Butler Street, with “We will get through this Pittsburgh” displayed on the marquee of a temporarily closed-down Row House Cinema. During the months that followed, I have continued to carry my camera through streets that are normally filled with people, events, and activities: all silent.
With Allegheny County now settling into the “yellow phase” of the shutdown, and businesses finally beginning to reopen, I wanted to document how local shops were adapting to these trying times. On the following pages, you’ll see familiar faces including businesses that have been a fixture in the city of Pittsburgh for years, like Gus and Yiayia’s, who have been bringing us shaved ice balls and popcorn since 1934. And there are new people to meet too, like Abi Falcioni and her new venture, Perrico Plant Co. in Lawrenceville. These neighbors of ours are now wearing masks, and they’re social distancing. But they’re starting to come back, and they’re starting to give me more hope that the marquee I photographed back in March just might be right.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2020.
