• A woman stands in front of several police officers at night, illuminated by blue and red lights, with people and a building visible in the background.
Silhouetted birds fly across a dusky sky above a dark, tree-lined ridge at sunset.
  • A person with glasses and messy hair wears heavy makeup in red, white, orange, and blue while standing outdoors at a public event.
  • A group of women in colorful traditional clothing stand with hands pressed together in prayer at an indoor religious gathering.
  • An older man with gray hair and a beard sits on a fallen log at the edge of a deforested, barren landscape, with remaining trees in the background under a clear sky.

Public Source’s photojournalism and audience team transformed complex stories into unforgettable visuals. Here’s how we showed you Pittsburgh in 2025.

Sydney Noakes, center, of Monaca, stands with other people who arrived to the day’s No Kings protest in blow up suits in downtown Pittsburgh on Oct. 18. Noakes said the blow-up protesters just seemed to find each other, and started a conga line through the crowd. “It’s crazy to think of us as terrorists quote unquote when we’re literally frogs and unicorns and babies and so forth,” said Noakes. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Fellow Shaler Trump supporters gather at the kitchen table of Jo-Ann “Jazzy” Zajackowski to watch the inauguration of President Donald Trump as they eat some of his favorite foods, Jan. 20, in Shaler. Zajackowski hosted a lunch featuring McDonald’s Big Macs, Kentucky Fried Chicken and cookies with the president’s face from Oakmont Bakery. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
A person dressed as a baby sits on a throne-like chair holding a sign, surrounded by protesters carrying political signs and American flags during a street demonstration.
2025 No Kings protests in Pittsburgh. (Photos by Stephanie Strasburg & Quinn Glabicki)
  • A person with glasses and messy hair wears heavy makeup in red, white, orange, and blue while standing outdoors at a public event.
  • A marching band in red striped shirts plays brass instruments on a city street, while pedestrians walk by and tall buildings line the background.
People dance during a DJ night at HAVEN, a mostly volunteer-run independent music venue in a former church in Central Oakland, on Sept. 5. The space is run by the grassroots collective Post Genre, which provides opportunities to learn audio engineering, lighting and event design as part of the event space operations. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
A ceremony at Shree Krishna Temple of Pittsburgh, in Carrick, on Aug. 14. Since 2020, Shree Krishna Temple has provided Hindu worship and community to Pittsburgh’s Nepali refugee population from Bhutan. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)
Barber Sekou Brown, left, does the hair of University of Pittsburgh student Albert Dada ahead of Labor Day weekend on Aug. 29, at The Natural Choice Barbershop & Natural Hair Salon. The barbershop is a gathering space for many who return for conversation and music, and to catch the latest sports game on TV. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
A large group of clergy in white robes with red stoles are seated closely together in pews, singing or praying in a crowded church.
Priests and deacons sing at the installation of Bishop Mark A. Eckman at St. Paul Cathedral, July 14, in Oakland. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
People sit at tables in a grand hall with high ceilings, tall windows, and columns lit with orange lights, while two people stand and talk in the center aisle.
People greet each other as they wait for sunset to break their fast during an Iftar dinner hosted by City Councillors Theresa Kail-Smith and Erika Strassburger alongside the Peace Islands Institute and Turkish Cultural Center of Pittsburgh at the City-County Building in Downtown on March 18. “We cannot really understand the people in need if we are not hungry, so it is a really good teaching for our own self and for our own kids,” said Serap Uzunoglu, a board member at the TCCP, of one of the reasons for Ramadan fasting and reflection. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Silhouetted birds fly across a dusky sky above a dark, tree-lined ridge at sunset.
A flock of crows flies above the Allegheny River on Feb. 17. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)
An older man with gray hair and a beard sits on a fallen log at the edge of a deforested, barren landscape, with remaining trees in the background under a clear sky.
George Walley, a local Noongar elder, sits at the edge of Alcoa’s Huntly Mine, near Pinjarra, Western Australia, on March 24. “The bauxite mining activity is taking from Mother Earth … from what is ours,” said Walley. In 2025 Alcoa, the Pittsburgh-based aluminum giant, sought to mine more of the endangered Northern Jarrah Forest. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)

(Left) Cheryl Martin, a member of the First Nation Noongar people, rubs dust between her palms at the bank of the Murray River in Pinjarra, Western Australia, on March 28. The riverbank is the site of an 1834 massacre where as many as 80 Noongar people were slain by colonists, and which Martin’s great-great-great-grandmother survived. (Right) Retaining walls hold tens of billions of gallons of waste at an Alcoa storage site on the outskirts of Pinjarra, Western Australia, on March 25. The piles are some 150-feet tall, and residents say winds whip the residue into clouds of red dust that reach homes and lungs for miles. (Photos by Quinn Glabicki)

A woman stands in front of several police officers at night, illuminated by blue and red lights, with people and a building visible in the background.
A person argues with local law enforcement officers from multiple agencies after the officers confiscated a megaphone that the person was using to warn local people about ICE, which arrested 12 people during an operation in Ambridge on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)
Kitt Night, president of SWOON Alliance, stands for a portrait with clothes offered in their sex worker mutual aid pop-up closet, Kitt’s Clawset, at the QMNTY Center, April 7, in the North Side’s East Allegheny neighborhood. Pittsburgh’s SWOON Alliance, for Sex Workers Owning Our Narratives, uses the pop-up clothing swaps to connect sex workers with new and gently used clothes for their work, for transitioning genders, or for transitioning to work outside of the sex industry. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Corey O’Connor, Allegheny County controller and at that point Democratic nominee for mayor of Pittsburgh, greets supporters at his primary election night party, May 20, at NOVA Place in Allegheny Center. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)
Mayor Ed Gainey gets a hug from a tearful canvasser and supporter, Sage Velasquez, after giving his concession speech at his primary election night party, May 20, at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers on the South Side. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Talan Baker waits for instructions before starting his project on April 22, at CCAC West Hills in Oakdale. Baker enrolled in the Hiram G. Andrews Center in Johnstown in May, aiming for a career in underwater welding, but by December had dreams of learning explosion welding. (Photo by Anastasia Busby)
Four children are in a classroom; one is seated while the others stand around her, holding markers and pens, with a carpeted floor and tables in the background.
From left, Benji Potter, 8, Brooke Bray, 8, Skyii Scott, 7, and Charmjai Mitchell, 7, do hair together between afternoon programming at Rankin Christian Center, May 27, in Rankin. Many local after-school providers like Rankin Christian Center scrambled to adjust as federal funding cuts driven by President Donald Trump and initiatives led by the Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate what they called “wasteful grants and contracts.” (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Leon Ford high fives youth at Cops and Kids Camp after talking to them about his relationship with the police years after being shot during a traffic stop in Highland Park, on July 31 at Duquesne University in Uptown. While the shooting left Ford paralyzed, he has become an advocate for community relationship-building with police and urges children from underrepresented communities to consider one day joining the force. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
A group of people gather around a seated man on grass, offering him water and support, while others stand nearby, some holding water bottles.
A Casa San José rapid response volunteer breaks down in tears during an ICE raid at Tepache Kitchen and Bar in Mars on June 25. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)
FBI agents and others stand outside a building entrance near parked police and utility vehicles.
A woman in casual clothes sits on a chair, looking at her phone, with her reflection visible in a large wall mirror beside her.

(Left) Federal agents from ICE and the FBI lead restaurant workers in shackles into an unmarked white van during a raid at Tepache Kitchen and Bar in Mars on June 25. (Right) Brittany Gonzalez speaks on the phone with her husband, Macario, who called from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, where he had been detained by ICE for two months, on June 30. (Photos by Quinn Glabicki)

Nina Louise Dagavarian, 7, holds her handmade sign before a rally in opposition to Pittsburgh Public Schools’ plans for school closures and consolidations on March 16, at Schenley Plaza in Oakland. Dagavarian is a student at Woolslair Elementary School, which was one of the campuses Pittsburgh Public Schools looked to close before ultimately voting down the consolidation plan and opting for a district-wide tax increase. (Photo by Anastasia Busby)
People warm themselves around a fire during a meetup of Pittsburgh TubClub at the former Brady Memorial Funeral Home on March 19, in the North Side neighborhood of Spring Hill. The club pairs rotations of ice baths with a barrel sauna, breath work and camaraderie around a campfire. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
A woman helps guide another person’s hands as they play an organ together, both seated closely at the keyboard.
Teaira Collins stands behind her son, Judah Scott, at a piano after his music lesson with the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus on Feb. 25, at the Mary Pappert School of Music in Uptown. Judah, then in 7th grade, is doing well at Pittsburgh Arsenal 6-8 and in extracurriculars including chorus and a range of sports. Still, Collins knows that high school can be a minefield and is planning for Judah’s needs as he transitions to adulthood. (Photo by Anastasia Busby)
Liam Gingrich, left, and Sam Schmidt, center, of Our Streets Collective, set up tents in protest of continued encampment closures along the jagged rocks beside Second Avenue Commons, a facility that serves people experiencing homelessness, Aug. 7, in Uptown. “The number one question that we have is where people can safely camp within the city that doesn’t expose them to risk of arrest and police harassment and violence,” said Schmidt. “Especially when there’s a chronic shortage of shelter beds.” (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Lee poses for a portrait in his room, Aug. 11, in Plum. Lee was 17 and receiving gender-affirming care at UPMC before that treatment was ended for patients under age 19. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman/)
Protesters hold tombstones outside of UPMC’s Downtown headquarters at a Die In + Funeral to Protect Trans Youth, Sept. 8. The protesters lay on the ground outside the U.S. Steel Tower during a moment of silence punctuated with 375 slow drum beats, symbolizing the people who had lost gender-affirming care after UPMC’s June decision, under federal pressure, to end those services for people under 19. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)

Protestors, including some from the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the University of Pittsburgh, marched to demand the cancellation of Pittsburgh-based aerospace company Howmet’s F-35 contracts in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Some students and faculty members at Pitt continue to call for divestment from Israel. (Photos by Alex Jurkuta)

A group of young people sit on the grass and in a hammock while one person walks barefoot on a slackline in the foreground in an outdoor park setting.
The Club Climbing Team at Pitt lounges outside of the Carnegie Library as other members teeter on slacklines on a warm Sunday evening, Sept. 21, in North Oakland. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Illustration of a person with headphones and smartphone, a racing car, a keyboard and a large YouTube logo in the background.
  • A person looks out a window at an inflatable turkey in the yard; a ladder leans against the house, and leaves are scattered on the ground.
  • Paper planes flying from a file folder to an envelope, symbolizing the transition from paper to education to employment.
  • A series of stylized illustrations depicting a person expressing various emotions and actions, with one image each of a hand, a cup and a hand holding a paint brush.
  • A person climbs bus stairs, prepares food, transports folded towels on a cart, and handles files, depicted in four panels with simple line art.

(Illustrations by Andrea Shockling)

Dre Harris, of Penn Hills, floats with his daughter, Meoryah, 4, at Boyce Park Wave Pool on his cherished day off from work and school, June 25, in Plum. It was the pair’s first time at the pool. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Old stacks from the H.J. Heinz Company factory, now the Heinz Lofts, rise beyond homes in part of East Allegheny known as Deutschtown, March 12, in the North Side. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Shyheim Banks, of Duquesne, who goes by his artist name Treble NLS, stands for a portrait on the Mon Wharf as seen through the reflections in a piece of glass, Aug. 18, in Downtown. During a depressive episode in 2017, Banks told a 911 dispatcher he had a gun to his head and asked them to send an ambulance. Instead, he got a police response. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Steve Mellon, veteran photojournalist and writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and recent striking member with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, waves and thanks the crowd assembled outside of the Post-Gazette doors before walking in to retake his job after three years on strike, Nov. 24, on the North Shore. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg)
Gabrielle Marsden stands beneath a grove of wild pawpaws along the Allegheny River in Barking Slopes Conservation Area in New Kensington on Oct. 7. North America’s largest native fruit species is gaining popularity as an ecological blessing and tasty snack, and supporting the return of the zebra swallowtail butterfly. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki)

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