Dream Street : W. Eugene Smith

"Once when the moon could be seen in Pittsburgh there was little of romance or symbol of loveliness to be found in its presence -- for it meant strike, or the mills were down with depression, and it meant of narrowing larders and tightening pressures, and the moon could evoke the wolf cry of troubled men."
From Smith's draft text for Popular Photography's Photography Annual, 1959.

today i went to the Carnegie Museum as a class field trip to see the Dream Street photographic exhibit. it is excellent. in all, i was most surprised by the diversity possible for a set of black-and-white photographs, all of 1950s Pittsburgh, yet each one distinct. the scope of the project is apparent in the understated epic impression granted to everyday life and places. not surprising considering that Smith originally took 17,000 photographs over the course of two years, 2,000 of which he made into prints, and 193 of which were chosen for this exhibit. a sense of the familiar, rooted in the history of real human experiences and places.

now through Feb 10th at the Carnegie Museum in Oakland.