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Retrographer harnesses the knowledge of the community to create a collaborative map of Pittsburgh's historic photographs.

How it works?

All of the photographs on the site come from the City Photographer collection hosted and curated by the University of Pittsburgh's Archives Services Center

Retrographer uses Google Maps to make it easy for anybody to geotag these images. This geotag data is sent back to the Archives Services Center to become a permanent part of the archive.

About The Project

Retrographer was started in the Fall of 2010 as a project for the Senior studio Pieces taught by Dylan Vitone at Carnegie Mellon University. The project has evolved and lives on after the class has ended. So far over 3,900 photos have been tagged by people all over Pittsburgh

Retrographer continues to evolve. Check back soon on your smartphone, a mobile app is on the way.

If you have any feedback about Retrographer please email me at dpieri@gmail.com -Dane Pieri

Just Pittsburgh?

It doesn't have to be. If you would like to bring Retrographer to your city, and are able to work with an archive or museum to get access to a collection like Pittsburgh's City Photographer Collection, shoot me an email!

Featured Photos

  • Men Under the Bridge - 1905

    Men Under the Bridge
  • Aerial View of Grant at Sixth - 1951

    Aerial View of Grant at Sixth
  • Forbes Avenue - 1938

    Forbes Avenue
  • Butler Street - 1917

    Butler Street

Contributions this week
Dott
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Patrick
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Gary
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Jon
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Daniel
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Recent Activity
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    "Up Front"

    Dave said 02/05/23 15:49:47 UTC
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    Jon tagged 11/28/22 19:32:51 UTC
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    "omg it does say that.

    Please ignore me. "

    Jason said 11/25/22 19:00:38 UTC
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    "I believe this photo should say "looking North." From the vantage of this photo, if we were facing West, there would be no bridge in the background. "

    Jason said 11/25/22 18:59:55 UTC
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    Jason tagged 11/25/22 18:58:37 UTC
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    "Directly next door to this site today (4331 Andover Terrace) is a split-level home built by Robert Lavelle, a prominent Black realtor in Pittsburgh beginning in the 1950s. Lavelle did a great deal to advance opportunities for home ownership for Black Pittsburghers when white-owned banks and realtors would not sell them homes."

    Aaron said 11/10/22 14:24:48 UTC
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    Alexa tagged 10/13/22 18:49:52 UTC
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    Jason tagged 10/09/22 14:39:27 UTC
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    Jason tagged 10/09/22 14:28:43 UTC
  • Small 20090323 cp 0104
    Jason tagged 10/08/22 03:26:49 UTC
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