Response to: Subway Portraits

I find it as a coincidence how the article was published 4 days after the 100th Anniversary of the NYC subway system. On the day of the opening, a man described his subway experience as “When you get in, there’s nothing to look at except the people”, a quote where that remains unchanged in some situations almost 109 years later. But a normal subway ride would consist as nothing to look at, except for the people, maybe the ads around, and subway messages on the screen on the strip map in the newest train models. But what about waiting for the train? It could include looking at the way the station is designed, more especially the design of the original stations that first opened in my opinion, more ads placed around, or artwork that is placed around all over the system. Most of the time people can mostly be thinking if they’re gonna get to where they need to go on time, and hoping no delays don’t suddenly occur. Walker Evans’ “project for love” can be more viewed as how non-New Yorkers can get to see what was it like riding the NYC subway. And winter did seem like the right time as the coat can be used to disguise the camera. Compare those images to today, people can still be seen looking around or reading the morning paper. But what is also seen today is people going through their electronic devices, or find themselves sleeping on the train. They seem fascinating in a way we can see how one decade is, and one after another it is visible to see how at the same time society changes with it.