Traveling Exhibition

"The Real Steel"
A contemporary, yet historical photography exhibit

"The Real Steel" is an exhibit of photographs illustrating the rarely seen making of iron, steel and finished steel products by a company which is now defunct. These photographs show the danger and beauty of men working in a hostile environment making products which invisibly make our modern life possible.

"The Real Steel" includes 24 color and 4 b&w, archival, digital prints of photographs of Bethlehem Steel made between 1977 and 1997 when the company's mills were in full operation. The prints are 16" x 20" and 16" x 16" and are conservation framed with eight ply mats to 28" x 34" or 28" x 28" in narrow black wood frames with plexiglass glazing. The framed prints are shipped in two professional exhibit shipping crates. A digital copy of the introduction to the book and display captions are available for graphics panels. Reproduction quality digital image files are available for exhibit promotion. Complete information about the full exhibit, including NPR and PBS interviews, can be found at http://www.insidebethlehemsteel.com.

From 1977 through 2000, Treiber was a photographer for the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation, first on staff and later as a freelancer who photographed the industrial titan during its final quarter century. Many of the photographs from this period were incorporated into this exhibit and into the book, Inside Bethlehem Steel: The Final Quarter Century by Peter Treiber, photographer, and Elizabeth Kovach, writer. The 12" x 9" leather bound coffee table book is 140 pages with 92 different color and b&w photographs made between 1977 and 2000 and it is available for museum and gift shop sales. Book prices are $30 wholesale and $49.95 retail, ISBN 978-0-9798657-0-1.

For nearly its entire existence – from its incorporation in December 1904 until its sale in May 2003 – Bethlehem Steel Corporation was the second-largest steel company in the United States. The early and tremendous successes of Bethlehem, nicknamed Bessie, earned the company a position on the Dow Jones Industrial Index in 1918, and it became the darling of Wall Street for many years. It literally built and defended America by building many iconic structures, such as, the Golden Gate Bridge and military armaments of every description. During the years of World War II, it was the world's largest shipbuilder.

Photographs from "The Real Steel" have been recently exhibited locally four times and have earned excellent reviews. This work has also been juried into the Art of Seeing book for the past three years. These photographs of a once great company, which is now gone, are a significant part of American history.

"The spectacular photographs of Peter Treiber constitute a work that will not be forgotten," says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Strohmeyer. "The most stunning visual history I've ever seen...Treiber captures the beauty and power of the steelmaking process and portrays it as fine art," says Ed Riccio, president of BethForge, 1989-1995.

"I had never seen anything with pictures that feel so contemporary," says Dan Hugos, gallery owner, photographer and advisor.

Treiber holds an associate degree in design from the State University of New York and a bachelor of fine arts degree in photography from the Art Center College of Design in California. He maintains a photography business in Bethlehem, Pa. and he is a life member of ASMP.

More reviews:

Nancy Gravatt: "…Treiber…and Kovach have teamed up to create a visually stunning portrait… depicting the final decades of an iconic company that literally built our nation."
Nancy Gravatt, Vice President, Communications, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)

Scott Robertson: "What this book does perhaps most successfully is retain the history and heritage of Bethlehem Steel, creating an image not of rusting, hulking, idle operations, but of a company, and an industry, that was pulsing with excitement, built on the backs of hard workers who gave their all, only to find little left for them at the end of 99 years."
Scott Robertson, Chief Correspondent, Steel, American Metal Market

Al Zagofski: "The Real Steel is the real deal." Al Zagofski, Times News