When assigned to think of a transitional space, I immediately thought of the Union Square Subway Station. It is the station where I exit from on my daily commute, as do thousands of other people. The space connects the dingy, crowded, dim tunnels of the subway, to the brightly lit, beautiful park and towering buildings of union square. It also can represent the shift in people, from who they are at home and on their commute, to whom they present themselves to be once they reach their workplace or school. On my first trip to photograph the subway station, I merely captured what it looked like from above. Yes, there were people going up and down the stairs, however it only showed the outside world of Union Square with no mention of the underground. However, it was a good starting point. It inspired a series of sketches and angles that I should try to capture on my next visit. See the original image below. On my next visit to the station, I spent much more time there observing and moving around to capture different angles. I took photos from above, peering down the stairs, photos from below that showed the the magnificent buildings that spring up from the ground. I took photos of the staircase, the fences, the people, the peoples feet…the list goes on and on. Then once I sat down to narrow down the set of over 50 photos, I found the perfect one. It did everything I wanted it to do. It showed the world above as well as the space below. It showed the actual entrance/exit that looked almost like a portal. Without showing the actual steps, you know that they are there, because the picture shows people coming up them as well as going down. These people are in transition between the two spaces. The photo was perfect and I’m proud to present it for this project.
THE FINAL IMAGE:
THE ORIGINAL IMAGE:
THE SKETCHES:
A sketch of how I took the first photo
The sketch that ended up being how I took the final photo
A sketch of feet depending the stairs.
A sketch of the buildings peeking over the subway fence and subway tile
A sketch of people going up the subway stairs that also shows the world above
