When I moved to NYC in 2002, I wanted to document the thousands of diverse faces and people I see in transit every day, but it’s not easy to find an unthreatening way to take photos. It’s difficult to be unobtrusive when I have an enormous camera hanging around my neck.
Then came the iPhone. My favourite photo apps are LoFi, Camera Bag, Photogene, MillColour, MosaicCam, Polarize, SepiaCamera, and Instagram. Rarely Hipstamatic. But my big secret is the SpyPic app which puts a false page on the screen so it isn’t obvious I am using the iPhone’s camera.
Every day I feel like I am in a car full of compatriots and companions, and it is a silent, poetic-feeling conversation I have with my subjects.
I dedicate my blog, Subways, to my late brother Mike who was a huge advocate for bicycles. As teenagers, we made a pact never to become suburbanite commuters; one person per car and adding to traffic, pollution, general waste and excess. He was 20 years old when he was killed on his bicycle by a drunk driver. This is also my way of sharing his memory.
1. Girl sitting in NY subway with long black socks
New York chic in a nutshell
2. Crowd waiting in NY subway for line 7
If you've ever been a subway commuter, you've been here.
3. Commuter wearing tropical pants in subway
Train and platform. Two worlds collide briefly.
4. Two women with different styles in subway
Where people of all walks of life come together in peace until the next stop.
5. Happy hour 2 for 1 beer in subway
Every last drop counts.
6. Woman putting makeup in subway train
One must question the efficacy of sticking a pointy stick-like object into your eye while bouncing up and down between stations. If this doesn't show New Yorkers have balls, nothing will.
7. Commuter with blindfold sleeping in subway train
Tourist or not?
8. Two Japanese tourists with colorful clothes in subway
In what is often a sea of grey, there's always someone to add a spot of color to your subway ride.
9. Mouthless add in NY subway
Everyone is an artist in the city.
10. Eid day with traditional clothes in NY subway
Do you recognize the stop? The train is elevated. Must be Brooklyn.
11. Silvercup sunset with one leg up
Make yourself at home.
12. 3 commuters with different styles in subway train
Read. Listen to music. Sleep. Or.... What is your favorite commute activity?
13. Woman standing listening to ipod in subway train
Everyone with their subway faces on. Similar to elevator face, but with a bit more of a "don't come near me" vibe going on.
14. Graffitis on buildings seen from subway train
If you don't ride the subway, chances are you'll never see this sight in NYC.
15. Homeless man sleeping in subway
A warm place to sleep when it's cold. A dry place when it's raining.
16. Three sailors in subway train
Must be Fleet Week.
17. Couple in a subway train
Love and affection underground.
18. Commuter asleep in subway train
Hopefully, he won't end up in the Bronx without his shoes and bag. It happens.
19. Different styles in NY subway
This has got to be in a station downtown.
20. Fixing hair in NY subway train
Stretching, brushing, getting ready for the next stop.
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