Taxi drivers are the confessors of our time. They meet us at our most harried, ready to embark on some of life’s great journeys: job interviews, the birth of a child, a flight around the world. The friendliest cabbies are happy to strike up a conversation — and people often feel a certain freedom to share things they might not even tell their loved ones.
Mike Harvey, whose work we spotted on My Modern Met, was a taxi driver for the town of Neath in Wales. “Thousands of people travelled in the small transient space of the taxi, and each journey had it’s own unique interaction and narrative. I wanted to document the lottery of people that occupied the taxi space, and the experiences that taxi driving gave me,” he writes on his website. “Whether it be rushing a pregnant woman to hospital or being regaled stories of World War II by an elderly passenger, the taxi provided a space to meet, converse with, and learn from people.”
Harvey’s photos capture these characters. Passengers have talked to Harvey about everything from suicide to drugs. Is it any wonder Harvey turned his camera onto them?
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey
Photo credit: Mike Harvey