Archive
Photographs and History: A Change of Venue
Dear friends and followers,
During a recent website rebuild I made the decision to integrate my blog into the new design to have everything under one domain. It has been a great run on WordPress but I have found it very important to have my portfolios along side of what has become a major body of writing, research and imagery both contemporary and historical. I would like to thank all of you for your continued support and encourage you to make the trip with me over to the new location.
Those of you who subscribe to this blog via email, do nothing, I have your info and will add you to my subscription list, if you no longer want to receive these notifications or already are on the list simply unsubscribe, no problem!
Those of you who follow me via the WordPress community please click here if you would like to sign up to receive updates, notifications and the occasional newsletter via email.
Please note that effective this message I will no longer post to this page and on June 10th I will be setting up a permanent re-direct to the new blog, www.michaelfroio.com/blog, don’t forget to update your bookmark for the new site.
Thank you again for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Michael Froio
Preserving the legacy of the Pennsylvania Railroad
At the close of 2014 the Greer Family donated a remarkable piece of Pennsylvania Railroad history in the form of an oversized album of large format photographs made by Frederick Gutekunst (1831-1917) a native of the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Operating out of a studio at 7th and Arch Streets for more than 50 years Gutekunst was considered one of the preeminent photographers in the post-Civil War era. Some of his subjects included noteworthy people like Thomas Eakins and Walt Whitman but also extended beyond portraiture to include architecture and the built environment of the PRR. Before this album surfaced most examples of his work were in the form of stereo views, making this collection of 16×12” large format prints incredibly rare.
Plate 61, Allegheny Tunnel, Galitzen, Pennsylvania. One of 91 beautiful images from the Album of Frederick Gutekunst’s photographs recently donated to the Library Company of Philadelphia by the Greer family. Image collection of Library Company of Philadelphia
The portfolio, dating from ca. 1875, titled simple “Scenery of the Pennsylvania Railroad” represents one in a series of campaigns the PRR embarked on to celebrate the railroad as a destination, touting the freshly manicured railroad dissecting the wilds of Pennsylvania, following serpentine rivers, paralleling the canals the road made obsolete; a symbol of modern engineering and progress in America. Fittingly the railroad chose photography over traditional illustrations and paintings, providing a tangible image which potential travelers could connect to, a portal into the world of the PRR and the landscape it traveled. Like his contemporary William H. Rau, Gutekunst utilized the large plate view camera to portray the growing railroad as the country recovered from the American Civil War. This remarkable portfolio illustrates the Pennsylvania Railroad before the grand system improvements started under Chief Engineer William H. Brown and his successors, which would last from the late 1870’s well into the first decade of the 20th Century.
On the Conemaugh at Lockport, Pennsylvania, by Frederick Gutekunst. Up until the PRR portfolio surfaced, much of Gutekunst’s work for the PRR was only known to exist in stereo views like this. Image collection of Library Company of Philadelphia.
What makes this donation even more special, especially to PRR preservationists is that we owe a great debt of gratitude to a former Pennsylvania Railroad employee for having the foresight and pride in his employer to save the portfolio.
David St. John Greer, was born in Philadelphia in 1914, his father a laborer and his mother a seamstress. Settling in New Jersey, David completed high school in Pemberton, NJ and enrolled in a 4-year business administration program at Drexel University. Graduating from Drexel in 1937, Greer would begin a 32-year career with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Though the details of his early years with the company are limited, in 1943 despite being exempt as a railroad employee to serve during WWII, he felt compelled to serve his country and enlisted in the Navy. Greer was never deployed in active war but was appointed as the Assistant Supervisor of Exports for the PRR Port of Philadelphia and later served as the District Property Transportation Officer in the Port of Philadelphia Customs House while also acting on the Ports Conditions Committee. Greer was released from active duty in January of 1946 as a Lieutenant returning to his civilian job with the PRR. Over the next 11 years Greer worked all over the system as a Supervising Agent for important terminals like Williamsport, Harrisburg, the company piers of New York, and Philadelphia. In 1953 he was promoted to Superintendent of Stations in the Pittsburgh Region and later the Chicago area from 1955-57. By the end of 1957 Greer was promoted to Manager / Director of Freight Stations and Motor Service on the entire system, responsible for all stations and trucking companies owned by the PRR. In 1968, the fateful year long time rivals PRR and NYC merged Greer was appointed Director of Stations system wide where he served just one short year, deciding that he could no longer work for the merged railroads.
David St. John Greer, pictured here in the center of the middle row (dark suit) was a devoted Pennsylvania Railroad employee who purchased the Gutekunst album after the ill fated merger of the PRR and rival New York Central in 1968. After being in their possession for over 45 years the Greer family decided to donate the album to the Library Company of Philadelphia where it will join a sizable collection of Gutekunst’s work along side the William H. Rau commissions for the PRR. Image courtesy of the Greer Family.
During that last year, the PC worked to wipe the slate of documents and ephemera from the PRR archives offering items for sale to employees and later holding public auctions. It was here that Greer purchased the Gutekunst Album along with a number of other pieces of PRR memorabilia. Greer’s son, David, recalls, “My father loved the PRR and hated the merger. He particularly loved freight operations. He worked in places that included many of the locations in Pennsylvania pictured in the [Gutekunst] photographs and felt a close kinship to the railroad and the state of Pennsylvania. He took good care of the album but would occasionally sit and look at the photos much as I have done for the past twenty years.” David’s father gifted many of the other items he purchased at auction after his retirement, but held on to the album of photographs. “I think it is telling he kept the photographs, clearly the most valuable piece of railroad memorabilia he had. He also kept things that I think reminded him of the good times on the railroad. As an example he kept and displayed the menu from his dinner on the last run of the all Pullman Broadway Limited. The train crew signed the menu and he kept it along with some of the serving pieces that were used for this dinner. I think he felt that the end of the Broadway Limited was the end of an era. He flew to Chicago on business so that he could ride home on the Limited’s last eastbound trip as an all Pullman train, disembarking at Paoli near his home.”
Survived by his daughter Ann Hiros and son David Greer, David St. John Greer passed in December of 1993, leaving the album among other items with the family. In late 2013 I had heard about the album surfacing through PRRT&HS archivist Charlie Horan and in March of 2014 had the pleasure of meeting David on a train trip to Pittsburgh riding the Juniata Terminal Company PRR 120 and the Warrior Ridge (A Ride on the Pennsylvania). Dave expressed his interest in donating the album to a place that not only could care for it properly but also make it accessible to the public. Given my experience with the Rau collection housed at the Library Company of Philadelphia I suggested that David consider the institution, not only because of Gutkunst’s Philadelphia connection but also because of the existing collection of his work already at the LCP. It would also bring together two very important collections of photography that focused on the Pennsylvania Railroad from the 19th Century. At the close of 2014 the Greer family ultimately decided the album belonged in LCP’s permanent collection, adding to an incredible archive of 19th Century prints and photographs. We are lucky to have this resource preserved where it will ultimately be digitized for many future generations to enjoy in the honor of David St John Greer and photographer Frederick Gutekunst.
Watershed Project – Upcoming Exhibition
Bluffs on Crosswicks Creek, near Bordentown, New Jersey. This is one of 14 images from the Watershed series that will be part of an exhibition at the Perkins Center for Arts – Collingswood. The show opens Saturday, March 14th with a reception from 6-9pm.
Watershed: The southern half of the Delaware River Basin is steeped in history, once the backbone of shipping and manufacturing and home to countless communities along its banks. The Delaware itself and the many unremarked tributaries that feed into it play host to a diverse Eco system that thrives along side industrial sites, refineries and countless miles of swamp and unremarked landscapes covered in bay grass, scrub pines and oaks. There is a feeling of emptiness in these landscapes, an absence of human life. Scars left behind from dredging dumps and brownfield sites only highlight nature’s resilience to recover these swaths, its ability to thrive even under the duress of neighboring highway noise, pollution and encroaching housing developments. The Watershed Project is about the beauty of the benign and unremarked place challenging our perception of the natural landscape while celebrating an important resource of the greater Delaware Valley.
I am excited to announce that I will be included in a three person exhibition that will open next Saturday, March 14th at the Perkins Center for the Arts in their Collingswood location. Along with artists Keith Yahrling and Amy Becker I will be showing work from the Watershed Project. The exhibition runs from March 14 – May 2, 2015 with an opening reception on Saturday, March 14 from 6-9 pm. The Perkins Collingswood facility is located at 30 Irvin Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108. Normal exhibition hours are Tuesdays & Thursdays 10 am – 2 pm, Saturday 10am – 2 pm. The exhibition and opening is free and open to the public. Collingswood offers some terrific options for dining so its a perfect opportunity to get out for a night of art and entertainment. Hope to see you there!
Lecture Next Week | Harrisburg Chapter NRHS
I am happy to announce that I’ll be presenting a slide show and discussion on my ongoing photographic project, From the Mainline: A Contemporary Survey of the Pennsylvania Railroad for the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Inspired by the work of photographer William H. Rau, who was commissioned in the 1890’s to document the PRR and its destinations, the project explores the transitioning landscape along the former PRR mainline from New York to Pittsburgh, highlighting the unique vernacular of facilities and infrastructure built by the PRR. Using large format film based images this project combines historical research and imagery to present a creative documentation of one of the most celebrated railroads in American history for both exhibition and web format. Attendees will also be treated to some of the recent commission work I have been doing for Conrail Shared Assets and some behind the scenes insight on the production of a long term video and time lapse documentation project.
The NRHS was founded in 1935 by a group of rail historians. It has since grown from 40 founding members to include over 13,000 men and women of all ages and professions in every state and many foreign countries, making it the nation’s largest rail preservation and historical society. The Harrisburg Chapter is one of roughly 160 around the country, and widely recognized for its remarkable and innovative preservation efforts including the restoration of Harris Tower and the creation of a interactive installation combining the old interlocking machine with 21st Century technology to recreate the working environment of one of the PRR’s busiest towers. For more information about the Harrisburg Chapter of the NRHS, their activities or to plan a trip to the Harris Tower museum visit their website.
The lecture, on March 10th, 2015, is part of the Harrisburg Chapter’s meeting is free and open to the public and will begin at 7PM at the Hoss’s Steak and Seahouse, 743 Wertzville Road, Enola, Pennsylvania
For more information please contact me directly at michael@michaelfroio.com
Delair Project: Highlight Video Is Live!
Click to view the highlight video release of Delair Project!
The Delair project highlights are live! This documentation included fourteen months of work, at times utilizing up to three photographers, working a total of over 800 man-hours to capture 10 terabytes of imagery through bitter cold, snow, rain and miserable heat, day and night. I would like to thank the people at Conrail and all the contractors and consultants for their assistance and patience, without them this project would not have been possible. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Samuel Markey who was an integral part of the entire production and Michael Legrand who’s aerial footage added another dynamic to this already massive undertaking. Please click the image above to check out the highlights of the Delair Improvements Project and as always feedback is much appreciated!
Thank you for your time and support!
Michael Froio
Michael Froio Photography, LLC
Upcoming Exhibition: Monmouth Museum
I am very excited to announce the Monmouth Museum’s upcoming exhibition, “All Aboard, Railroads and the Historic Landscapes They Travel” which was curated by yours truly! See below for the full press release and look forward to future posts on the artists featured in the exhibition!
Locomotive 5145 in Canadian Pacific Railway St. Luc Roundhouse, Montreal, Quebec, 1960. Photograph © David Plowden
The Monmouth Museum Presents
All Aboard! Railroads and the Historic Landscapes They Travel
Curated by Michael Froio
November 16, 2014 – January 4, 2015
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 16, 3 – 5 pm
Gallery Talk with Curator Michael Froio: Friday, December 12, 7 pm
(LINCROFT, NJ) The Monmouth Museum presents All Aboard! Railroads and the Historic Landscapes They Travel, curated by Michael Froio. An Opening Reception will be held on Sunday, November 16, 3 – 5 pm, and a Gallery Talk will take place on Friday, December 12 at 7 pm, with Curator Michael Froio. The Opening Reception and Gallery Talk are free of charge. We are delighted to announce the Monmouth Museum Model Train Display will make its comeback with new, improved trains and updated network of track! The Friends of Monmouth Museum will present their Annual Holiday Tree, decorated with train and railroad memorabilia!
Railroads played a vital role in the development of the United States, providing the vehicle to feed the industrial revolution, the means to bridge the east and west coasts and the ability to move the American people, goods and raw materials over a network that greatly shaped the American landscape. All Aboard! is a celebration of railroads in the American landscape detailing some of the most transformative times in railroad history. This visually stunning and informative historical exhibition features the work of eight renowned photographers, including David Plowden, Jim Shaughnessy (both on loan from The Center for Railroad Photography and Art), Ron Wright, Mel Patrick, Scott Lothes, John Sanderson, Travis Dewitz and Guest Curator Michael Froio. Also featured are vintage travel and advertising posters (on loan from the Private Collection of Bennett Levin). All Aboard! Railroads & The Historic Landscapes They Travel is an enchanting journey through the history and nostalgia the railroads evoke and the landscape they have traveled for over 150 years.
Michael Froio is an acclaimed professional photographer, associate professor and facilities manager for the Photography Program, part of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Michael has received several grants and fellowships including a two-year Career Development Fellowship and Alumni Travel Grant with the Center for Emerging Visual Artists as well as a 2009 Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts. Michael has published articles with the National Railway Historical Society and presented lectures for the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, The Library Company of Philadelphia and various Chapters of the National Railway Historical Society across the country.
End of Summer Update
Construction waits as a late running inbound crude train crosses the Delair Bridge into Southern New Jersey during the April Outage. This week marks the sixth and final shoot for Conrail documenting the Delair Improvements program.
I hope you all had an enjoyable summer! I know, I promised an in-depth series of posts on the evolution of the Lancaster area on the Pennsylvania Railroad and so far I have published one part. There is more to come I assure you! Recently with gracious assistance from friend William L. Seigford and accompanied by the knowledgeable Mark Hoffman I made a trip to sew up some loose ends on the Lancaster Terminal and the New Holland Branch. Much of this film has been processed but still needs scanning and editing to add to the series, rounding out the contemporary part of my survey. Adding to the backlog, this week marks the last of six shoots for Conrail documenting improvements to the former PRR Delair Bridge, a vital connection between the South Jersey cluster of Conrail Shared Assets and Norfolk Southern and CSX’s transportation networks. Once complete I’ll be shifting gears to finalize and begin promoting the upcoming exhibition I am curating at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ. I look forward to sharing this exciting Fall season for the blog and Mainline Project and as always thank you for your patience and support!
Sincerely,
Michael Froio
Summer News and Updates
Dear Friends,
I wanted to take a moment to say hello, it’s been a while since I have emailed or posted and I thought it would be a good opportunity to fill everyone in on some exciting news and updates.
The past nine months have provided big opportunities for me as a professional photographer. I was commissioned by Conrail to document a major rebuild of the Delair Bridge, a vital span over the Delaware River which connects the Conrail Shared Assets South Jersey freight cluster with Norfolk Southern and CSX networks. The conversation with Conrail began sometime in September of 2013 to provide a record for engineers and contractors of the fast paced process of replacing 60 deck girder spans over a series of several three-day work periods. After some discussion and my own consulting with several peers it was decided the best solution would be to utilize time-lapse photography to provide both a still record and moving piece that shows each 72 hour work outage in some 6-12 minutes. To date we have shot five of the six outages compiling roughly 10 terabytes of information utilizing Canon, GoPro and unmanned aerial drone technologies. It’s been one hell of an experience and I look forward to sharing the results of the project soon.
Other exciting news includes the recent confirmation that I will be curating a show opening this November titled, Railroads and the Historical Landscapes They Travel at the Monmouth Museum near Red Bank, New Jersey. Though details are still in progress I am excited to put together a great exhibition featuring a wide breath of work both contemporary and historic on the subject. You can also expect a new series of posts this fall focusing on works from the Watershed portfolio, which explores the Delaware River watershed and Atlantic coast. This work will be part of a three-person exhibition next year at the Perkins Center for Arts in their beautiful Collingswood exhibition space. Posts on the Mainline Project will also resume next week with a large series focusing on the history and evolution of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have been working on accumulating resources for these posts and figuring out how to format the series for sometime now. I am pleased with the way things are coming together and look forward to your feedback once they start going live.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer and I look forward to sharing more with you on exhibitions, new work and creative commissions in the near future! Stay cool and keep in touch!
Best regards,
Michael Froio
Upcoming Lecture | PRRT&HS National Convention
View of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Mainline and East Franklin from Conemaugh, Pennsylvania.
I am happy to announce that I’ll be presenting a lecture on the ongoing photographic project, From the Mainline: A Contemporary Survey of the Pennsylvania Railroad during this year’s annual Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society national convention. Inspired by the work of photographer William H. Rau, who was commissioned in the 1890′s to document the PRR and its destinations, the project explores the transitioning landscape along the former PRR mainline from New York to Pittsburgh, highlighting the unique vernacular of facilities and infrastructure built by the PRR. Using large format film based images this project combines historical research and imagery to present a creative documentation of one of the most celebrated railroads in American history for both exhibition and web format.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society (PRRT&HS) is a national organization including 12 Chapters around the country whose mission is to further scholarly learning and interest in the Pennsylvania Railroad through a number of activities. For more information about the PRRT&HS, their activities and archives please visit their website. The lecture, part of the annual national meeting which runs from May 1st to May 4th is one of many diverse presentations covering a range of topics on the late great Pennsylvania Railroad. For registration information and schedules please visit the convention page or contact me directly at michael@michaelfroio.com
Thank you for your support!
Michael Froio
Upcoming Lecture | Northern Central Chapter PRRT&HS
I am happy to announce that I’ll be presenting a slide show and discussion on the ongoing photographic project, From the Mainline: A Contemporary Survey of the Pennsylvania Railroad for the Northern Central Chapter of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. Inspired by the work of photographer William H. Rau, who was commissioned in the 1890′s to document the PRR and its destinations, the project explores the transitioning landscape along the former PRR mainline from New York to Pittsburgh, highlighting the unique vernacular of facilities and infrastructure built by the PRR. Using large format film based images this project combines historical research and imagery to present a creative documentation of one of the most celebrated railroads in American history for both exhibition and web format.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society (PRRT&HS) is a national organization including 12 Chapters around the country whose mission is to further scholarly learning and interest in the Pennsylvania Railroad through a number of activities. For more information about the PRRT&HS, their activities and archives please visit their website. The lecture, part of the Northern Central quarterly chapter meeting is free and open to the public and will begin at approximately 1:30PM at the Otterbein United Methodist Church, 301 W. Philadelphia Street, York, Pa. For more information please contact me directly at michael@michaelfroio.com
Thank you for your support!
Michael Froio
Michael Froio 