It was October 2007, and I arrived in New York City, eager to run the marathon, but due to registration problems, I couldn't. I stayed in the Bronx with my friends Julio and Raquel, who live at the third stop on the Route 1 train, which runs from the Bronx to the South Ferry, crossing all of Manhattan.

Since I was unemployed, and the idea was to train daily in Central Park, my friends, who both got up early for work, gave me a train card and showed me the way.

I started traveling towards Manhattan and observed the people traveling to and from work or other activities. October brings the cold, so clothing changes; most people wear gray and black, and the train cars are painted light gray, beige, light green, and white. Internally, the train became like a black and white photograph.

Observing the people starting the route, I noticed how the types of people changed, as did their clothing and accessories (newspapers, magazines, tablets, cell phones, watches, shopping bags, among other things). But what caught my attention most was the attitude on their faces and their expressions, as well as the different ethnicities. Some people were dozing, and their tiredness and vacant stares were evident.

But I observed another situation: as the train moved through the different stations, the people changed—smiles, finer clothes, accessories—and I decided to photograph what I felt and wanted to capture in a photograph. The question was, how?

My camera, a Canon 5D Mark II, with a 24-70mm or 70-200mm lens, was quite bulky and conspicuous. I thought a lot about how to photograph someone on a train without them noticing and without altering their demeanor. Besides, it's illegal these days; nobody likes having their picture taken and their privacy invaded.

It took me 2 days, getting on and off trains, rehearsing the technique and its effectiveness, I always went to McDonald's to review the photos and eat the same thing, coffee with milk and a muffin, because I didn't speak English.

When I felt that I had mastered the subject and the technique, I began to choose the characters, by their clothing or gestures or the way they used the seat, their gaze and the way they stood and in 6 days, I took the number of photos and had to return with doubts, if I had managed to complete my circumstantial project, which was born from observation and thanks to the handling of light, the camera and knowledge in photography.

Arley Acosta Uribe
Professional Photographer
Cali - Colombia
August 2026