The Others

Photo series

2012–2014

One can go up a high building to get a panorama of a city. But I personally prefer to get a view of the city by going down to the metro.

Anywhere in the world, as long as there is a metro system, I can be pretty sure that commuters will be exposed and forced to interact under very identical and almost laboratory controlled situations: uniform artificial lights, similar trains and stations, and organised crowds. 

Because of this, I find that the metro has a uniformity that allows for observing and investigating individuals in a systematic way that can be reproduced anywhere. When creating these images, I also set up a “protocol” to ensure consistency: I shot in each city always at the same metro station, for five consecutive days, for four hours during morning rush hour and another four hours during the afternoon one.

By repeating this very same experiment in cities from different geographies, I tried to explore the apparent democracy that the metro is: a place in theory used by “everyone”, where strangers mingle. Whatever the originality of the responses and reactions of the passengers as well as the interactions amongst them, I think they are just as much imagined by the viewer: difficult to say what is shaping reality and what is reflecting it.

Exhibitions

O efeito do observador/Observer’s effect
Group exhibition curated by Pablo Berástegui Lozano
Centro de Arte Oliva, São João da Madeira, PT

June 2021 – February 2022

Force, Strength, Power
Group exhibition
Galeria Baginski, Lisboa, PT

July – September 2017

Budapest Metro

Brussels Metro

Berlin S-Bahn

Amsterdam Metro

Paris Metro

Helsinki Metro

Madrid Metro

São Paulo Metro

Rio de Janeiro Metro

Oslo Metro

Stockholm Metro

Exhibition views / Photo credits

1–2

Centro de Arte Oliva / Dinis Santos

3

Espaço MIRA / Carlos Azeredo Mesquita