2020.
Pandemic, protests, the U.S. election; these are the events that defined the year.
Nestled between the Northeast and the Midwest of the United States, Pittsburgh is unique, quirky, specific — but also a reasonable barometer for the country as a whole. What happens in America happens here, in its own, Pittsburgh kind of way.
In Pittsburgh, things changed in early March. Roads emptied, services shut down, work went online. Zoom replaced travel; toilet paper and baking flour became impossible to find. And so the year unfolded: one thing after another.
The outrage unleashed by the killing of George Floyd at the end of May set off a global reaction, including in my own neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.
And then there was the election.
Featured here, Squirrel Hill, East Liberty, Shadyside, Point Breeze, and Hazelwood are some of the neighborhoods that comprise Pittsburgh’s East End: diverse yet segregated; privileged, and deprived. Early in 2020, at the onset of the lockdown, they became abandoned landscapes; later, a staging ground for the demonstration of a collective anger; and finally, a palette for the public expressions of a divided polity. As with all of us, I was both a witness to, and participant in, 2020. I was fortunate to have food on the table, a roof over my head, and a safe place to rest at night; not everyone could claim the same. While its effects appeared to cut across lines of class, race and gender, 2020 has also been a year to expose and attenuate the profound inequalities in our society.
These pictures, then, are a personal account of a shared experience, of a journey through a year like no other. The pictures provide, on occasion, a first-hand account of some of the year’s major events, seen from a small American city. They also reflect a personal experience of 2020: at times, a year of stress, turmoil, anger, despair; occasionally, of respite, relief, even, briefly, celebration. It was a year in which withdrawing became a survival strategy, a year of staying close to home; of finding joy in small things; of seeking solace in the hills and woods of Frick Park; or simply of wandering the city, photographing familiar places with new eyes.
These pictures are not a comprehensive account of 2020; but they are 2020 as I have seen it.
Sidewalk graffiti. Friday, 13th March was the day, in Pittsburgh, where the pandemic began to come into focus. The Governor of Pennsylvania announced school closures; discussions at work turned towards switching operations from in-person to remote; shelves at major stores were suddenly emptied. Stumbling across this graffiti seemed especially portentous.
Friday, 13th March. It should have been a regular Friday afternoon food shopping excursion, but the sense of panic was palpable. Stores were seemingly overrun with shoppers buying anything they could find; by the time we got here, the shelves were empty. It was like a scene from an apocalyptic movie, an exercise in surrealism.
Friday, 13th March. It should have been a regular Friday afternoon food shopping excursion, but the sense of panic was palpable. Stores were seemingly overrun with shoppers buying anything they could find; by the time we got here, the shelves were empty. It was like a scene from an apocalyptic movie, an exercise in surrealism.
Tuesday, 7th April. Three weeks into lockdown, spent mostly at home, venturing out only to buy food. Spring is here, but at times it feels as if the sky itself is falling.
Easter Sunday, 12th April. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, but Downtown Pittsburgh was quiet, as most people stayed close to home on this holiday weekend.
12th April. Point State Park, Downtown. Masking is becoming part of the social landscape
12th April. Downtown.
12th April. Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown. “Tough times don’t break us they make us.”
Sunday, 19th April. Downtown.
Thursday, 23rd April. Rush hour on the Parkway East, a major artery into the city.
23rd April. Mr. Rogers statue, on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.
Sunday, 26th April. Graduation weekend. A very rainy graduation weekend at the Oakland campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Ordinarily, this would be one of the busiest weekends of the year.
1st May. Frick Park. Playgrounds across the city, like this one in Regent Square, remain shuttered.
8th May. Prior to the lockdown in March, Center of Life, a local community-centered non-profit in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, was delivering about 800 meals a week to local families. Almost overnight, in response to the immediate need created by pandemic-related job losses, they scaled up to over 5000.
8th May. Hazelwood.
8th May. Volunteers offering a prayer before setting out on food delivery from Center of Life.
13th May. Providing meals for families affected by rising unemployment and dwindling access to resources was an enormous, multi-agency undertaking. Community Kitchen, a workforce development non-profit based in Hazelwood, has provided tens of thousands of meals during the pandemic.
14th May. The Immaculate Heart of Mary church in Polish Hill.
20th May. The lockdown continues. Walnut Street, in Shadyside,, is a busy, fashionable shopping strip. It remains mostly shuttered.
21st May. Emergency relief provided by the American Red Cross, aiding in food distribution.
Sunday, 24th May. Schenley Park. People are venturing outdoors, but still keeping their distance.
28th May. View of Downtown Pittsburgh, from Greenfield.
1st June. As is happening across the country, in East Liberty people take to the streets in support of Black Lives.
1st June. East Liberty. Early June marked the beginning months of social protest across the country and the world.
3rd June. Interfaith demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter, East Liberty.
5th June. March in support of Black Lives Matter, Bloomfield.
5th June. March in support of Black Lives Matter, Walnut Street, Shadyside.
5th June. Walnut Street.
5th June. There are signs everywhere. Some, like this one at a local supermarket, are both a reflection of the existential realities of life in a pandemic, and yet, in the context of the ongoing street protests about public safety, bordering on the absurd.
13th June. Rally, and march from Squirrel Hill to Downtown.
13th June. Oakland.
13th June. Oakland.
17th June. Memorial honoring lives lost, East Liberty.
17th June. Garfield.
19th June. An Interfaith rally in Hazelwood on Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating emancipation from slavery.
19th June. Juneteenth Interfaith rally.
19th June. Juneteenth Interfaith rally.
19th June. Juneteenth Interfaith rally.
1st July. Silent Protest, Oakland.
1st July. Silent protest, Oakland.
4th July. Our first trip outside of Pittsburgh since the start of the pandemic: outside the shuttered Rodin Museum, Philadelphia.
16th July. Farmer’s markets began to reopen over the summer, but with strict social distancing and masking measures in place. This is the farmer's market in Downtown Pittsburgh.
16th July. Social distancing is relatively easy Downtown, as people are still few and far between.
21st July. Lawrenceville farmer’s market.
6th August. Wilkinsburg.
16th August. Social Distancing, Frick Park.
21st August. In the lead up to the November election, reports began to circulate about compromises to the postal service, and potential disruption to postal voting. This demonstration was organised outside the Squirrel Hill Post Office.
23rd August. A family-centered demonstration, in support of Black Lives, outside the mayor’s house.
29th August. Organised by Pittsburgh youth throughout the summer, Civil Saturdays was a series of weekly protests revolving through various Pittsburgh neighbourhoods. Squirrel Hill, corner of Forbes and Murray.
Late August Baseball finally returns to Frick Park.
9th September. Occupancy on public transit remains sparse.
26th September. Supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on the 18th of September. This commemoration of her life and work was held in Squirrel Hill, at the intersection of Forbes and Murray Avenues, the following weekend.
7th October.
14th October. The Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park had been graffitied earlier in the year, as across the country attention turned towards the meanings of various monuments and the legacies they represent. It was subsequently wrapped in plastic sheeting, pending a decision on its future.
15th October. Despite the intense political polarization generated, this uncle and nephew in Squirrel Hill managed to maintain a civil disagreement about the upcoming election. They experienced considerable abuse from strangers, and some neighbors, directed towards this display.
1st November. The Sunday before the election, a national tour arrived in Pittsburgh to rally black voters, convening at Freedom Corner in the Hill District.
2nd November. The day before the election.
6th November. With everything else going on, the pandemic persists. This was not our first false alarm that necessitated a Covid test. The testing center resembled a scene out of science fiction.
7th November. The election was officially called for Biden/Harris four days after voting took place. Many people across the city spilled onto the streets in spontaneous celebrations that lasted into the night. Forbes and Murray had long since become a community focal point for Squirrel Hill.
10th November. Though the election results have been announced, tension and anxiety seem to be the prevailing emotions. The park is increasingly a place of refuge, an escape from the news cycle.
27th November. Seeking a little peace and respite from the roller coaster year, we took a day trip to the Forbes State Forest, before the weather closes in for the winter.
24th December. Christmas Eve, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Oakland.
25th December. Christmas Day, Squirrel Hill.
23rd March, 2021. POSTSCRIPT: a little over one year into the pandemic, we get our first dose of the Covid vaccine. So much remains unresolved, but at least in terms of the pandemic, with vaccinations becoming more available, and schools and businesses beginning to open, there is a small sense of relief, of the possibility of a return to normality.
