Jun 14, 2014

From Pittsburgh to the Poconos | Photographs

Photographer Paula Smith is opening the doors to her exhibition featuring photography from the state of Pennsylvania, USA. Works shown will feature the industrial and agricultural  heartland of this great American state and include a mix of portraits, urban and rural landscapes.

It's an ongoing project, which started with no particular theme, but over the course of nine or so years it's built into a story that highlights the strength and heritage of the state's once massive industrial might - home to coal, steel and Heinz ketchup; and the small town communities and rural areas which are the foundations of the American ideal.

There's a story for every picture. One of the strangest is an image that at first glance simply looks like a couple walking up a country road but is actually the site of a former coal mining town called Centralia. In 1962 a fire broke out in a mine under the town and it's still burning to this day.  As a consequence most of the town was demolished and it's an eerie site to walk down once residential streets seeing smoke bubbling from the ground where once a whole community lived.


From Pittsburgh to the Poconos | Photographs by Paula Smith is open this weekend Sat 13th 11-6pm and Sun 14th 11-5pmVenue 163, 85 Forest Rise.


You can see more about Paula here www.paulasmith.co.uk and connect with her on twitter @paulasmithphoto


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