Photographer on Documenting the Subway Life

Photographer Bruce Davidson started photographing the New York Subway in the 1980s. In preparation, he started a crash diet, a military fitness exercise program, and jogged in the park early every morning because he knew he’d need to be physically able to carry a heavy camera in the subway for hours every day. But still, nothing prepared for him for the gritty and sometimes violent subterranean world of the subway.

I found this story via one of our favorite San Francisco photographers, Troy Holden. Davidson’s book, Subway, documents a world that we are familiar with, where public transit is a part of our daily lives. He writes:

From all over the earth, people come into the subway. It’s a great social equaliser. As our being is exposed, we confront our mortality, contemplate our destiny, and experience both the beauty and the beast. From the moving train above ground, we see glimpses of the city, and as the trains move into the tunnels, sterile fluorescent light reaches into the stony gloom, and we, trapped inside, all hang on together.

So well said. Head over to Wayne Ford’s blog to see more of Bruce Davidson’s photos and read about the rest of the Subway series and this amazing photography project.