Bruce Davidson: NYC Subway Photography 1980-81

Notes on the Subway
Bruce Davidson (2003)

The subway has even more meaning today than in the past for we live in turbulent and tense times, where humanity can be both amazing and horrific. Although nearly 25 years have passed and the subway itself has changed and improved, we are not always aware of our past, what awaits us, or the passage of time. I explored the six hundred miles of subway tracks, uncovering layers of life in a bestial and beautiful subterranean world. Today the world is riding the rails on a subway to unknown destinations, where social strife and suicidal sadism are trapped in the same train with ordinary people trying best to live their lives. The gruesome biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons of mass destruction ride along with us. The train has long left the station and again, we find ourselves hanging on together.

"Whether playing ball, bopping in the hall or just writin' my name in graffiti on the wall..." Rakim Allah

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