Back in 2000, the NYC Transit Authority joined the artificial reef building program off the East Coast of the US and hundreds of stripped and decontaminated subway cars were sent via barge to be dumped in the Atlantic Ocean. Industrial photographer Stephen Mallon spent three years traveling from Delaware to South Carolin, documenting the entire process. In Next Stop Atlantic, his upcoming solo show at Calumet Photographic, the resulting large scale photographs anthropomorphize the massive metal hulls, making what should be a happy voyage (yay, repurposing!) feel like a strangely sad experience for the viewer.
Mallon agrees in his artist statement: “Seeing these massive mechanisms being tossed into the ocean like a toy in the bathtub is a ping in my heart. I have always been attached to these machines, their surreal beauty integrated into their functional engineering. At first I was stunned, the moments of violent recycling, watching the water quickly adapt to its new underwater houses. After being pushed and stacked like a sardine in these subways cars over the past decade, it is nice to see the sardine actually getting one of these as its new steel condo.”
Click below through to check out a selection of his work.
Photo credit: Stephen Mallon. Courtesy of The Front Room
Comments (12)
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Where are the underwater shots?!
[...] 19. Where Subway Cars go to retire. Yikes. [Flavorpill] [...]
wow. can’t believe the feeling of sadness that came over me while viewing these pics. the idea of repurposing them to create reefs is pretty great, though.
Holy crap! and noahs right where are the under water shots?
This is truly sad. How can people do this!? Yet we’re trying to “go green” -____-
F***!! Atlantic is not a trash you dumbass! :@
I don’t think iKarlae and mytos understand what the situation is.
I think iKarlae and mytos are ignorant fucktards .
Can someone please explain?
great fotos but can some geek make your page a little less clunky?
takes far too long to show the shot, and THEN you have to scroll back up to see it intact.
ps) if you can’t see what i mean, go to guardian.co.uk and check out their galleries…far smoother and more pleasurable experience.
Thanks
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