LIMITED EDITION PRINTS - 20"by 16" Signed and Numbered 1-100. A serene Monongahela River reflects the muted colors of early morning, with a light mist rising above the calm waters. In the distance, Carrie Furnace emerges, its structures casting a stark silhouette against the softer natural elements. The juxtaposition of nature and industry creates a compelling visual narrative. Carrie Furnace is a former blast furnace located along the Monongahela River in the Pittsburgh area industrial town of Swissvale, Pennsylvania. The Carrie Furnaces were built in 1884 and they operated until 1982 Amid foreign competition, labor union strikes, and changes in the core technology used to manufacture steel, Pittsburgh's industry declined at the end of the 20th century. By the 1980s, more than 75 percent of the steel-making capacity in the Pittsburgh region was shuttered. Pittsburgh's steel boom days are quickly becoming lost in the mists of time. .
https://joycewasserphotography.bigcartel.com/product/mists-of-timeThis photograph captures a scene on Mckean St.framed between two old brick buildings. The buildings, with their large rectangular windows and aged bricks, create a canyon-like effect along the narrow street below. At the center of the image, a single SUV is driving down the street, drawing the viewer’s focus. The road is relatively empty, adding a sense of quietness or abandonment to the scene. In the background, the Liberty Bridge spans the view, with Mt. Washington faintly visible beyond it. The lighting suggests late afternoon or early evening, with warm sunlight casting highlights on the left-side building, emphasizing its texture and depth. The mood is a mix of urban grit and nostalgic warmth, capturing a cityscape that feels both historic and lived-in.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-48This photograph feels like a memory carved into brick. A weathered building dominates the frame, its surface carrying painted advertisements, bold white letters now softened by time. The worn text speaks of furniture, carpets, and credit. It echoes the history of Pittsburgh's bustling Strip District. Each faded stroke holds a whisper of commerce, of ordinary lives and working-class hope. The scene is framed by chain-link fencing and utility poles, giving a sense of distance, of looking at history through a barrier, unable to reach back. The composition leans slightly, adding tension, as though the building itself is tilting under the weight of years. Harsh textures meet soft, overcast skies, and the monochrome palette amplifies the nostalgia: gritty, proud, haunting. There’s a quiet dignity here. A neighborhood’s bones. A monument not to what was glamorous, but what was real.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-44A four story, old brick building standing prominently on a slightly inclined, deserted Pittsburgh street. The structure reveals a strong sense of age and abandonment, with boarded-up or broken windows on nearly every floor. The brick façade shows signs of wear and weathering, highlighted by the black-and-white manner of the photo, which emphasizes texture and contrast over color. The fire escape on the left adds an element of urban architecture from a bygone era, while overgrown plants at the building's base hint at neglect. The steeply pitched roof and chimneys suggest historical significance and architectural character, inviting viewers to reflect on what stories the building might hold.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-9This photo shows hauntingly atmospheric scene where nature and industry meet in a quiet, eerie balance. A dense layer of fog drifts low over a still body of water, blurring the boundary between land and reflection. The water acts like a mirror, doubling the world in soft grays and muted blues, lending a dreamlike or even dystopian quality. In the background, dark industrial structures—likely steel mill towers or factory silos—rise sharply against a heavy, cloud-laden sky. Their stark vertical forms contrast with the organic tangle of bare winter branches that frame the foreground. The trees, stripped of leaves save for a few stubborn remnants, give a skeletal, contemplative feel as they lean into the frame like witnesses. The mood is quiet, almost frozen in time—melancholic yet strangely serene. It feels like a place caught between eras: the remnants of heavy industry lingering in a landscape reclaiming silence and mist. The palette of cool grays and misty whites enhances the sense of stillness, solitude, and introspective calm.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-10A companion piece for "The Mists of Time" a steel truss railroad bridge stretchs across a the calm, Monongahela River. A layer of soft mist hovers just above the water, giving the scene an ethereal, dreamlike atmosphere. Bare branches dotted with clusters of red winter berries frame the foreground, adding a delicate contrast to the stark, industrial lines of the bridge. The bridge and branches are mirrored in the still surface below, creating a ghostly reflection that deepens the mood of quiet stillness. In the background, muted winter trees and a cloudy gray sky complete the tranquil, slightly mysterious scene, evoking a sense of solitude, nature’s pause, and quiet transitions.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-12A vintage building facade in the Strip District showcases a bold Red Ribbon Pop advertisement. The bright red sign contrasts with the grayscale brickwork, drawing focus. The Red Ribbon Pop sign instantly caught my eye with its vibrant red against the muted cityscape feels like a memory you can almost taste. I love how these old advertisements become part of a city’s story.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-51An old brick warehouse features signs of decay with barred windows and crumbling concrete. Faded signage indicates a shipping area long forgotten on Pittsburgh's south side near Station Square.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-43A gritty urban scene featuring a brick wall covered in graffiti art behind cars parked in a dead end alley in Pittsburgh's Strip District. The cobblestone street adds a vintage feel to the setting.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-49A set of parallel railroad tracks stretches into the distance towards the Liberty Bridge, flanked by modern apartment buildings and greenery. The image captures an urban scene with leading lines drawing the viewer to the depth of the place.
https://www.artpal.com/joycewasser?i=99365-47
