The original photographic project was supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The first edition of Subway was published in 1986 by Aperture Foundation, New York. A second edition was reissued by St. Ann's Press, Los Angeles, (This one) in 2003. The third Edition revised and reedited, has been issued by Steidl in collaboration with Aperture foundation.
In 1980, Bruce Davidson decided to undertake a project on the New York City subway system. This five-year project would eventually be called, simply, Subway.
The subway in 1980s New York was one of the most extensive, yet oldest, public transportation systems in the world.
Back then, it was a downright dangerous, dirty, and paradoxical place where users clamored for privacy in a claustrophobically public space. Davidson himself says of the subway: “It is the great equalizer… From the train moving above the street, revealing the city to us, to the plunge into the tunnels, the sterile fluorescent lights fade away, and we, trapped, are together.”
That space left little room for poetry: muggings, murders, and drug trafficking were the order of the day. Delays were frequent; everything was dirty, and traveling on public transportation was a nightmare.
However, in New York, everyone eventually uses the subway. In a city where public parking rates are the most expensive in the United States, the subway eventually becomes a necessity as inconvenient as it is essential. Besides, this was pre-Giuliani, pre-zero-tolerance New York. People used the subway not because they wanted to, but because they had no choice. It was a place of smells, sweat, and fear. Bruce said that “…riding the subway was never boring. The subway was dangerous. If you wore a gold chain around your neck, it would be ripped off. It was a scary place.” However, for Bruce Davidson, it was a spectacular opportunity to show what was happening on those trains and platforms at the end of the 20th century. “The subway seemed very sensual to me, even sexual. I found that the color in the subway provided meaning, and that the train could be everything: I could photograph a beauty or a beast. It was a great challenge going underground because I always had a nervous energy and apprehension because the subway was unsafe back then, especially if you were carrying an expensive camera.”
Davidson recalls: “To prepare, I began a diet, a military-style exercise program, and jogged in the park every morning. I knew I had to train like an athlete to be physically fit to carry my heavy camera and equipment through the subway for hours each day. I also knew that if something happened, I had to be in a state to react, or at least believe I was. Each morning I carefully packed my cameras, lenses, flash, filters, and accessories into a duffel bag. My green safari jacket had large pockets where I kept my train and police passes, some rolls of film, a map, a booklet, and a small album of images of people I had previously photographed on the subway. I carried quarters for people who asked me for money and change for my phone. I also carried an extra ID and a few hidden dollars, a whistle, and a small Swiss Army knife to give me a little extra confidence. I carried a clean handkerchief and some bandages in case I bleed.”Davidson always worked in black and white, so characteristic of his work. However, he soon realized the need to work with a different strategy for this project.
"On the subway, the experience demanded color. I used Kodakchrome 64 film, which is slow speed, but I chose it for its fidelity and the strength of its colors. Sometimes I used filters, flash, or available light. I used a variety of technical resources to make this work."Davidson began working with a visual logic that required color. “I found that the flash light reflecting off the steel surfaces and the old cars created a new way of perceiving color."
Bruce Davidson roamed the platforms and trains from early morning until late at night. As he went deeper into the subway, the place grew warmer in winter, and an entire ecosystem of homeless people and even animals became the masters of the subway until the train resumed operation at five in the morning.
Davidson decided to get closer. He never saw himself as a documentarian, but rather as an integral part of the scene.
He used strobe lighting in virtually every painting. Little by little, a body of work formed that combined empty or crowded trains. The beauty of people and their worst moments.At first, he had a hard time approaching people. He even jokes that at first even old ladies frightened him. But he eventually found his way around: he would explain to people that he was working on a photography project and take their directions to give them a copy. He soon understood that you couldn't be shy: you had to be confident. He also resorted to the well-known "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Even so, he was always open about his intentions and never hid his camera. The mere flash was enough to betray his presence and photographic activity. "It was also an announcement to potential thieves. That's why he would quickly change cars once he'd taken a photograph.
"Of course, on one occasion, he was mugged and his camera stolen.Bruce Davidson might have seemed brave and invincible, but the opposite was true. The subway was dangerous day and night. “…I was on guard all the time; there wasn’t a day when some horrible crime on the subway wasn’t reported in the newspapers. Passengers would see my expensive camera around my neck and think I was a tourist or a lunatic.”
After five years of work, the project was completed in 1986. It was published and exhibited at the International Center of Photography, founded by Cornell Capa.The project was instantly praised. Today it is considered one of the great photographic bodies of work that has influenced the style of photographers such as Wolfgang Tillmans, who did the same on the London “tube” in 2000, or Chris Marker, who worked on the Paris metro between 2008 and 2010. The inter-textual dialogue goes back, of course, to Walker Evans and also resonates in projects such as those carried out by the Mexican photographer Francisco Mata Rosas.
