Stephen Speranza. Stephen Speranza By admin - Colortek of Boston - By admin :

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1 Stephen Speranza By admin : Steven Speranza explores a small, post-industrial town of Pennsylvania in his ongoing photography project Wilmerding. Looking Down the Turtle Creek Stephen Speranza In 1890 George Westinghouse moved his company, the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, to the farming borough of Wilmerding, just 14 miles outside of Pittsburgh. Inhabited mostly by blue collar folk and residing next to the Pennsylvania Railroad, Westinghouse believed it to be the "ideal town". In 1890 over 3,000 of the 5,000 residents were employees of the Air Brake Company with attractive incentives. The company built everything: the factory, the homes, churches, YMCA, and all the infrastructure required of building a small urban town in what at the time was a very rural area. The creation of Wilmerding was done in a very community minded manner. Employees were supplied with a place to live, a job, a community, healthcare, etc. Some even claim Westinghouse implemented our current idea of the weekend. Unfortunately like other rustbelt communities, Wilmerding saw its decline primarily due to competitor's low costs. Wilmerding natives claim the town's decline was aided by the pressure of the unions, whom often went on strike. 1/8

2 The lack of production and jobs within the factory started a domino effect leading to younger generations moving away for work, reduction of overall traffic, and the shrinking of local industry. In 2013, Speranza made a visit to Wilmerding for his grandfather's funeral. This unfortunate visit sparked intrigue into the town's history and further unto the photography project we see today. Most of Speranza's knowledge of the town and company stems from his family. His grandfather and cousin both worked for the Air Brake Company for over 40 years, retiring in the 1970's and 80's with pensions as the company started to reduce production. Nostalgia for the original Wilmerding ideologies fuels Speranza's photographic journey as he witnesses first hand the stark contrast of today's rustbelt community. There was something about the visual aesthetic, lay of the land, interactions with locals I met and a feeling of stuck-ness that caught my interest. Stay Off Walls Stephen Speranza from the Wilmerding series Once a microcosm for the American dream, the town has transitioned from a successful industrial community with strong ties to American ideologies; strong work ethic, importance of family, potential of social progression, etc., to a place that struggles to maintain local industry, consists of high unemployment and very different family structures. 2/8

3 Yearbook Stephen Speranza Community Peach Garden Stephen Speranza Speranza is curious as to where those preexisting american ideologies of self sufficiency, hard work, and social progress have gone, and if they are simply no longer a reality. His conversations with subjects of Wilmerding might suggest these ideas still linger, but his observations suggest the opposite. My observations in Wilmerding are an example of where this idealistic culture fell short. It couldn t sustain itself for various 3/8

4 reasons and its important to study that history as well as the current situation. Behind Westinghouse High Stephen Speranza 4/8

5 In the Sandbox on Airbrake Ave. Stephen Speranza As a documentary photographer Speranza appreciates his familial ties to this project yet manages to create a larger conversation on social constructs. His subjects are often met on the streets with simple conversations. Although many do not seem to understand initially his interest in documenting Wilmerding, they engage the camera willingly. With some of his subjects, Speranza maintains contact over several months, allowing themselves the honesty and relaxed composure when photographed. It s 2014 and people are more aware of a guy with a camera than ever before. That's why it s a long-term project, the depth and closeness I d like the images to reflect isn t going to develop quickly. These subjects yield a hard yet melancholic disposition, which although Speranza claims to have no intended influence over, occurs often during shoots. It is a mutually shared feeling of residents of Wilmerding, Speranza says. They aren t thrilled with the current reality of a town they ve called home for years and there can often be resentment towards newcomers that are seen as not abiding by the same principals appreciated by former generations. 5/8

6 New and Expecting Parents Stephen Speranza Wilmerding is colored in hues of pea green and brick red tones; colors I often equate with imagery and slides of the 1960's. Speranza says many of the buildings have not changed since the late sixties and early seventies, breathing a sense of romance and times forgot. Almost all of the images were created with natural light with medium and large format film cameras, as well as digital SLRs. The color, light, and subject recalls photographers like Alec Soth, Stephen Shore, Robert Adams, and the New Topographics photographers. Speranza cites Soth as a major influence as well as Gregory Halpern's "A" series. 6/8

7 Joe Bacco on his Porch Stephen Speranza Speranza endeavors to create a book of the works followed by written entries and stories, as well as a gallery exhibition. He would love to see the work hung in large format. To date he has exhibited 10 pieces for his senior thesis at Lesley University, 1 image was included in the "Taking In" exhibition at Laconia Gallery, and a few images were featured at the Menino Arts Center for the group exhibition "Emerge Boston". When asked if he would entertain the idea of using these images to support campaigns for Wilmerding's future, Speranza was very enthusiastic. He would love to use this project to help support the Pittsburgh area as a means of extending the dialogue closer to the source. For this project, I d really like to create something that incorporates the history, my personal experience as well as some insight and more direct commentary from my subjects themselves. As a documentary I feel it so important to have some information that comes from a voice different than my own and I see this as giving the work more value as a piece of history in addition to it being art and photography. 7/8

8 Church Service Stephen Speranza For more information on Stephen Speranza and his project Wilmerding, please visit his website at Download PDF PDF generated by Kalin's PDF Creation Station 8/8 Powered by TCPDF (