Campbell photog recreates Valley historical moments

CAMPBELL — The first thing you notice when you see Diane Beatty’s photograph of a steelworker is the size of his hands.

He sits with his unnaturally large hands clasped between his knees. An idle blast furnace looms behind him like a spaceship.

“I wanted a picture of him in front of a blast furnace. Unfortunately they took that last one down in Warren with no public notice whatsoever. They just tore it down,” said Beatty.

So she and her model, Tim Sokoloff, president and founder of Iron Soup Historical Preservation Co., traveled to Swissvale, Pa., to photograph him in front of the Carrie Furnace.

The work is titled, “What will I do with these idle hands?”

Beatty, of Campbell, uses photography to preserve history that is slipping away.

For the complete story, read Sunday's Vindicator and Vindy.com