225 Churches in Pittsburgh
Since moving here several years ago I’ve made quite a few trips to the Historic Pittsburgh Churches. My favorite being East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
One of the more popular ones is St. Anthony’s in Troy Hill with a staggering 4,000 relics making it the largest collection outside the Vatican. With a total number of over 600,000 Catholics in the region.
I think they love Jesus here.
Beauty in the Architecture.
Its a 16×20″ on Aluminum for $240 Contact me if Interested
St. Peter & Paul
Now defunct and boarded up, but it was such a exhilarating church to see.
This was taken with a friend of mine during one of our Church scouting’s.
He has a eye for the architecture like me.
..when in Pittsburgh.
Visit some of the 225 Churches in the Diocese of Pittsburgh
There are quite a few that have been abandoned, making some pretty unique subjects for Photography. I’m not into the whole Urbex thing that’s rather popular.
Urbex is finding abandoned buildings and sometimes trespassing to get a shot of run down buildings. They do have a cool aesthetic, and often are admired for their ability to preserve the history.
It’s a whole thing on Instagram.. And often the “do it for the gram” is just nonsense.
I’m Into The Old School
When I’m out shooting photos, I know I’m already preserving history. I’m there, and I’m capturing it as is. I give the atmosphere and surroundings my respect.
It’s a code of being a photographer. And it extends when you leave your digital photographs natural preserving the authenticity of the location.
Often edited in black and white.
That’s just my preference.
But sometimes, the color profile is absurd.
East Liberty Presbyterian Church
It’s wild how the camera picks up the colors sometimes. It picked up the stained glass light fixtures and color from the sun and toned it through the whole image. But even in black and white it casts lovely contrast throughout.
Sometimes It’s about the smaller features.
Often times I’ve been in Pittsburgh churches and others my eyes wander. I often find the smaller details like the symmetry of this stairwell, or the organ in the attic below.
The beautiful thing is we are all drawn to different subjects. But through the eyes of a photographer it’s often a mix of things.
Lighting, emotion, contrast, an object or a person.
I Feel It In My Spirit
Spiritual Vibes
I think one of the most unique and humbling things about seeing some of the Churches around here, and churches in general is how they tend to make me feel.
Photography has a rather mystifying effect to clear my head and act as a means of therapy.
Being in a building where thousands of prayers have been made and songs have been sung to a higher power resonates deep in my soul.
Add those emotions to the aesthetics and history of the building and it creates something truly powerful.
Cathedrals, Basilicas, Chapels
There is so much variety in the places of worship here. Pittsburgh has so many different ethnic groups. You’re bound to find something original to take pictures of.
My Favorite Is East Liberty Presbyterian Church
This church is my favorite for several reasons. The first being how warm and welcoming the staff was. This was during an outing with my pal Shane during a church-schursion if you will. We asked them if we could look around with our Cameras during non service.
The man at the front was happy to give us a tour, and even told us he takes lots of pics there himself with his Camera. He talked a little bit about his photography and respect for the Church and offered us a tour.
It was just a brief walk around, but he said I have no problem unlocking areas for you if you wanna check it out. My eyes got big, because man.
One thing a Photographer loves is exclusive access for fresh angles.
Take A Look Around
We loved our time in ELPC (Cathedral of Hope), I even made a couple prints in large format because it just holds a special place in my heart.
You might be wondering what Camera and Lenses I used?
I encourage you to print the photos that speak to your heart.
Photography is spiritual
Make the connection