Michael Froio is a photographer and educator in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Much of his work focuses on understanding the built environment and how history creates a compelling narrative in photography. Michael's commissioned work includes architectural, railroad, and heavy industry documentation and research projects in various mediums, including large format films, digital stills, videos, and time-lapse photography. His work resides in noted collections, including the Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Woodmere Museum, and the Camden County Arts Bank collection.
Michael is currently working on several projects including a commission by the Library of Congress to photograph extant structures and interiors for an upcoming publication on the prominent architect Richard Morris Hunt. He holds a BS in Photography, from Drexel University.
BS, Photography, Drexel University
“The Railroad and the Art of Place” a monograph produced by Center for Railroad Photography & Art. Fall 2021.
Imagery featured in “Phantom Piers, Lost Raftsmen, and Deforestation on the Delaware River,” essay by Tim Kerner for Hidden City Philadelphia. September 2020.
Imagery featured in “Four Delaware River industrial artifacts that shaped Philadelphia,” essay by Tim Kerner for WHYY Philadelphia. July 2020.
Articles produced for The Trackside Photographer, a digital serial publication featuring the work of photographers exploring and interpreting the railroad landscape:
“They All Fall Down: Lamenting the Loss of a Classic PRR Signal—A History of the Development of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Iconic Signal Design.” August 2017.
“From the Main Line: Highlights of the Ongoing Survey of the Contemporary Landscape—Documenting the Engineered Landscape and Surviving Infrastructure of the Former Pennsylvania Railroad.” October 2016.
Images from the Main Line project in “The [Rail]Road Belongs in the Landscape: J.B. Jackson and the Photographic Depiction of American Railroads,” by Alexander Craghead in Railroad Heritage, the quarterly journal of the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, Madison, Wisconsin, Winter 2016.
“From the Main Line: A Guide to Understanding the Railroad Landscape.” The Bulletin, National Railway Historical Society, Fall 2012.
Richard Morris Hunt Project
Current ongoing project to provide architectural photographs for the Library of Congress of structures and interiors by the prominent 19th Century architect Richard Morris Hunt. Scope of work includes photography at multiple locations including the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina; West Point Military Academy, New York; and Newport Art Museum and Newport Preservation Society properties in Newport, Rhode Island.
From the Main Line: Pennsylvania Railroad Historic Structures Survey
Ongoing self-directed survey of landscapes, historic structures, and engineering features of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line in the mid-Atlantic states using a variety of photographic media.
On the Delaware: The Industrial Sublime
Ongoing research and photographic survey with Tim Kerner on interpreting the Delaware River’s industrial past, 2019-Present.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) Documentation
- Point-no-Point Moveable Bridge, Kearny, New Jersey, for Richard Grubb & Associates, Cranbury, NJ
- Dogue Creek Bridge, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore Division.
- Portage Viaduct, Letchworth State Park, Castile, New York, for Milestone Heritage Consulting, Marlboro, New York.
- Historic Officer Quarters, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, for Lammey & Giorgio Architects, Westmont, New Jersey.
Conrail Shared Assets Documentation
Structural engineering and construction documentation for expansion and improvements for Conrail Shared Assets, South Jersey Division railroad infrastructure.
- Delair Bridge Span Replacement Project, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Pennsauken, New Jersey, 2013¬¬¬–2014. Long-term time-lapse documentation of accelerated-schedule replacement of 2,100 feet of approach viaduct on a critical bridge connecting southern New Jersey to the regional freight rail network.
- Delair Bridge Cable Replacement Project, 2016. Intensive two-week time-lapse documentation of replacement of wire rope cables key to the operation of the 1,940- foot vertical lift span critical to maritime navigation on the Delaware River.
- Mantua Creek Movable Bridge, Paulsboro, New Jersey, 2014–2016. Eighteen-month time-lapse documentation of replacement of the Paulsboro Bridge movable span crossing Mantua Creek.
Select Lectures & Exhibitions
Visiting Artist Lecture and Exhibition: “Urban, Rural, Rail: The Photography of William H. Rau.” A symposium held in conjunction with Rau exhibition at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona, Pennsylvania, August 2017.
Visiting Artist Lectures for the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society’s national conference:
- “Continuing a Legacy: 19th-Century Photographic Surveys of the Pennsylvania Railroad.”
May 2019.
- “From the Main Line: A Contemporary Survey of the Pennsylvania Railroad.”
May 2014.
Visiting Artist/Curator: “Railroads and the Historical Landscape They Travel.” Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, New Jersey, November 2014–January 2015.
Visiting Artist Lecture: “From the Main Line: A Contemporary Survey of the Pennsylvania Railroad.” Center for Railroad Photography and Art Conference, April 2013.
Visiting Artist Lecture: “Understanding the Pennsylvania Railroad: Contemporary Photographs in Response to the Historical Works of William H. Rau.” Library Company of Philadelphia, March 2013.
“From the Main Line: A Guide to Understanding the Railroad Landscape.” The Bulletin, National Railway Historical Society, Fall 2012.
Controlled Burn, Alloway Creek, Salem County, New Jersey.
From the series “Watershed,” archival digital print, 2017
Mouth of Hinckston Run, Conemaugh River, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
From the series, “From the Main Line,” archival digital print, 2009
Dome detail, Memorial Hall, Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
From the series, “Relic,” archival digital print, 2006.
Detail, Pier 18, Graffiti Pier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
From the series “On the Delaware, the Industrial Sublime,” archival digital print, 2017.
Broadside view, Span 9, Portageville Viaduct spanning Genesee River Gorge, Castile, New York, from the HAER survey NY-54 for Milestone Heritage Consulting and the Library of Congress, archival digital print, 2017.