Subway Readers
What started as an Instagram series eventually became a ritual on my daily subway commute in New York City. I photograph my subjects surreptitiously (all on my iPhone): while they are reading actual books (not kindles or magazines) and others around them are engaged with their devices, listening to music, day dreaming or sleeping. I am interested in the moment where public intersects private. What happens to a person while they are absorbed in their book in very public and often crowded space? And what does their body posture or facial expression tell us? I like finding little tableaux. What is happening around the reader? I take these photos “undercover” because I don’t want the subjects to know they are being photographed. This helps preserve the naturalness of the setting and more importantly, it protects the intimacy of the moment.
