Sean Stewart: Rivertown

Rivertown is Sean Stewart's exploratory series documenting the post-industrial towns of the Monongahela river valley, near his home city of Pittsburgh.

These towns are what now remain of the thriving communities that grew up around the heavy industry of the, in particular industrial giant U.S. Steel. With the rapid decline of the steel industry in the 1980s, the communities it supported began to melt away.

Stewart's images are full of interesting visual touches; they really convey a sense of the desolation and silence in these once-thriving towns.

Via Ahorn Magazine

1. "For Pittsburgh, There’s Life After Steel", David Streitfeld, New York Times, 7 January 2009
2. Pittsburgh and Deindustrialization, Michael Cumming, 26 September 2009