Intimate Black-and-White Photos of Subway Travelers Around the World

By Alison Nastasi

May 9, 2016

Between 2007 and 2014, photographer Stan Raucher traveled to fifteen different cities on four continents. He captured the people riding the metro systems of New York City, Mexico City, San Francisco, Paris, Budapest, Naples, London, Warsaw, Rome, Prague, Vienna, São Paulo, Lima, Delhi, and Shanghai. The candid, black-and-white images of bustling travelers, which reveal tiny details about the unique characteristics of the different cultures and cities, remind us why the subway is sometimes better than attending the theater. Raucher’s subjects are featured in a new monograph by Daylight Books called Metro, publishing on May 10. “As individuals interact with one another in these tightly packed public spaces, occasionally extraordinary situations that are unexpected, mysterious, humorous or poignant unfold,” Raucher explains. “A strange or wonderful juxtaposition, a spontaneous gesture, a concealed mood or a hidden emotion may materialize and then vanish in a split-second.” See more of Raucher’s subway scenes from the urban stage in our gallery.