In 2025, with concerns abounding about job security in the age of AI and technological advancements, this critical project aims to show how vital to the region and its inhabitants work is for dignity and self-worth at this specific time in history.

Spanning the Western Pennsylvania Region photographers will document: work done in urban and rural spaces, work on hardware and software alike, work that is incredibly social and some more solitary - all showcasing the value and dignity that comes from work in all forms. 

The Western Pennsylvania Workers’ Archive is a visual record of work and life in Western Pennsylvania from 202X-202X. Building upon the importance and history of the work Roy Stryker and his team did in the Jones and Laughlin Photographic Project (1952-195X).

This Project aims to show how those in Western Pennsylvania, work and live. Once the current Project is completed, current contributors will lay the groundwork for future photographers to keep the Project alive and reactivate it in 20XX.