This has been my favourite place to take some shots: inside public transportation.
There is something about people and the transit. The nonchalance of the frequent commuters, the unrest of the visitors, the weariness of the workers, the bubbliness of the youth, and the contentedness of the seniors, all happen inside public transit.
But capturing this scene is very challenging as well. We are within a small space and everyone knows it would look extremely suspicious when someone with a camera is pointing at you inside transit. And this is why I often direct my camera to the reflection on the window. The double exposure effect created by taking shots of reflection somehow adds a nuance, heightening the feeling of a dream-like-scape that I really enjoy capturing.
Take a sample of the photo below. This man who seems tired (shown by his posture) looks in contrast with the reflection from a speedy moving train, creating (at least in my mind) a story of someone who is tired from this fast-moving city.
And the photos below, the colour, the expression, it might not be very sharp or clear, but it leaves an impression for me, a feeling of longingness, a melancholy.
Sometimes I played around with texture created from a falling rain. Like the photo below, where I played with the framing of a window, and deliberately highlighted the warning amidst the rain and the walking passenger. Yes, please hold on for your safety!
Last but not least, I took this shot aiming at this lady, without realising there was a signage with an arrow at the other side of the window. But it was the right moment and the right place. The scene unravelled in my camera, where the arrow and the eyes were on top of each other, it somehow created this story of someone moving away from the past.
Taking a shot in public transit challenges my creativity: how to explore this limited space, sneakily, with endless options of stories. It is an ongoing project, something that I will keep on doing until God knows when. I am also still figuring out the colour grading, another learning journey that I still not mastered (yet). But in the meantime, please enjoy!
Cheers,
M
