Metroreflex and other nearest misses
November 13, 2017
Here’s another batch of images that were all about to hit the edit room floor. They span the course of the last few years with the earliest being in September of 2015 and the the latest being last month. The reason I decided to save these from editorial purgatory was that I finally sat down and painstakingly read through Andre D. Wagner’s first monograph, “Here for the Ride.”
The book chronicles people as they commute on the New York transit system as seen through the eyes of a fellow commuter. The initial run was 750 copies and I stayed up all night to get my hands on number 23. All of the images originate on black and white film which is perfect. He does all of his own processing/printing and I think I read somewhere that he’s shooting up to 10 rolls a day, 7 days a week which has to make him one of the most prolific film-based photographers our there. I’m really on fire if I shoot 4 rolls of 35 in a single day. I can’t imagine shooting 10 and then processing all of that material. It’s mind blowing.
Beyond the technical aspects of the work and process the images themselves are incredible–these beautiful little dramas unfolding on the train. There’s a richness and a humanity to his subjects that is real and candid and lovely. He connects you to his fellow commuters in a way that conveys a certain intimacy–as if you’ve been invited to look behind the curtain of their life and everything is laid bare. The work is bar-none some of the best street and doco work out there, partially because it’s so current but also because it feels so timeless.
With that in mind here’s my micro-tribute to one of the most interesting and dynamic photographers out there today. Mr. Wagner, I severely doubt you’ll ever read this but on the off chance that you do, well done sir. You’re an inspiration and I really can’t wait to see what you do next.
All images shot on my Leica M7 at 35mm on Kodak Tri-X pushed to 800 at the Icon.