Michael Zagaris Brings 60 Years of NFL and Rock Photos to Pittsburgh
Zagaris personally printed silver gelatin prints in his home darkroom for this show, a first for the 49ers photographer who has shot 42 Super Bowls.
A photographer who started his career writing speeches for Senator Bobby Kennedy and ended up shooting 42 Super Bowls is now bringing that six-decade archive to Pittsburgh. Michael Zagaris: 60 Years of NFL Photography opens at 707 Gallery on 707 Penn Avenue, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and curated by Anastasia James, with the exhibition on view through November 8, 2026. The show is timed to Pittsburgh's hosting of the 2026 NFL Draft, scheduled for April 23-25.
For photographers, the technical detail that stands out most is the print medium. The exhibition presents, for the first time, a selection of silver gelatin prints that Zagaris personally printed in his home darkroom, foregrounding a hands-on engagement with the photographic process that is increasingly rare at this level of sports photography. Zagaris is still the active team photographer for the San Francisco 49ers, a role he has held for 49 seasons, and the images on display are drawn from what organizers describe as his rarely seen NFL archive.
The breadth of that archive is staggering. Over his 60-year career Zagaris has photographed 42 Super Bowls, 12 World Series, and 14 MLB All-Star Games, earning three Super Bowl rings and one World Series ring along the way. Beyond sports, his lens documented Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and the Grateful Dead, with work appearing in Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, and Time.
Pittsburgh audiences will find particular resonance in the selection on the walls. Wood Street Galleries, which operates the 707 Penn Avenue space, confirmed there will be a large selection of Steelers photographs included. One anchor image already confirmed for the show captures Lynn Swann (#88) catching a touchdown pass from Terry Bradshaw (#12) during the 1974 AFC Championship game against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on December 29, 1974, a game the Steelers won 24-13.
The images range across the full landscape of Zagaris' access: on-field action, sidelines, locker rooms, and behind-the-scenes moments the public rarely sees. That intimacy is the connective thread between his sports work and his rock photography, both bodies of work built on the kind of trusted access that takes years to earn.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. It opens in conjunction with the NFL Draft and with the soft opening of Arts Landing, a new major civic space in downtown Pittsburgh, making the spring of 2026 a concentrated moment of cultural programming in the city.
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