Portrait

For many city dwellers, the metro (subway, tube, you name it…) is their primary source of transportation. Each day, millions of people around the world descend stairs into the underbelly of their city to board a train that glides through tunnels, letting passengers off at their desired stations, where they emerge from the darkness in a different area of the city. Despite uniting citizens during their commute, when reflected upon, the metro is a gloomy symbol of a flaw that lies within large cities. Emotionless human cargo is moved through darkness, aptly symbolizing the omnipresent loneliness and disconnect that looms over countless city dwellers at one point or another. Oddly enough however, there is a sort of unspoken camaraderie in just sitting and sitting with one another.

People from all walks of life travel in communal solitude standing inches from each other. The lady holding the Louis Vuitton bag stands next to the teen carrying his backpack and both are surrounded by dozens of others, all on their way to different destinations—work, school, therapy, lunch—only they know.

They collide with one another, share intimate space yet know little about their fellow travellers. The quiet time is an opportunity for people watching; maybe painting a mental picture of the person next to us, using the information they choose to divulge—do they enjoy reading, do we hear Bowie leaking from their earbuds, did they wash their hair , do they wear perfume, are they doing a crossword or scrolling through Instagram. Some give us information that we’d rather not have—frustrated parents disciplining children, fights between strangers and arguments between couples. Others wear a smile on their face—friends laughing, lovers holding hands or a mother and her giggling baby.

Their lives differ, but for a brief moment every day, all are equal. Silently sharing the same space, where they shiftily avoid eye contact—instead opting to lock eyes with mediocre ads until the speaker announces their stop. En masse they exit the metro and march back up the stairs, reentering their city, splintering off in different directions, rarely crossing paths until they meet again tomorrow morning.

WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO

PHOTO: NOAH GANHÃO