Photographer and frequent BrooklynVegan contributor Gretchen Robinette has a unique photo exhibit, titled “Unlimited MetroCard,” which will be on display at Max Fish (120 Orchard St.) from Sunday, April 17 through Tuesday, May 17. Here’s what it’s all about:
Unlimited MetroCard is a series of unposed portraits best viewed as a story rather than individually, revealing the way the city’s diverse people by chance travel in the same subway cars, navigate one another within the continually shifting space; during tense rush hours, and quiet junctures of rest.
Shot entirely with an iPhone , Gretchen Robinette’s images get almost uncomfortably close to strangers, evoking the feeling you are viewing others thru a secret window. These candid photographs offer glimpses of both loneliness and physical intimacy; illustrating just how detached we can become towards others, although inches apart, engrossed in our own thoughts, screens, or headphones.
Robinette says of this series,”It was done not with intention to hide, but to reveal the similarities and uniqueness of the people we share such close public space with on a daily basis, yet will likely never speak to or sit next to again. We ride on a train car with strangers for a brief period of time, the doors open, people exit, and new strangers take their seats. I am drawn to how their stories are left to our imagination.”
While the New York City Subway has been photographed for decades, Robinette’s images capture the energy and present day New York City. Just as today’s smart phones have all but replaced the printed newspaper, these devices we may one day look back on with nostalgia for the ways we pass our time. This series is the raw essence and authenticity of candid street photography, contained to the diverse riders of the city’s underground transportation system.
Opening reception for “Unlimited MetroCard” is Sunday (4/17) from 7-10 PM. Go check it out.