Transit After Hours: Subway Hands
Inspired by countless hours of subway commuting in 2015, Hannah La Follette Ryan began taking evocative photos of the hands of fellow passengers. Her fleeting snapshots are candid and shot covertly in the tradition of subway photographers like Helen Levitt, Chris Marker and Walker Evans.
Her @subwayhands Instagram account now boasts more than a thousand hand portraits and 318k followers, including the likes of The New York Times, The New Yorker, Humans of New York and the Guggenheim. The images offer an intimate glimpse into the lives of commuters and life on the move. You will see hands playing solitaire, embroidering, doing the crossword, caressing other hands, and deeper into the pandemic, wearing gloves and applying hand sanitizer. Each image reveals a unique story through an unconventional lens.
Join The New York Transit Museum and Hannah La Follette Ryan as she talks about her project @subwayhands, the history of subway photography, and her inspiration and muse: the MTA.
