Life Below: The New York City Subway

From its beginnings in the early part of the 20th century, the New York City subway has captured the imaginations of photographers from Walker Evans to Bruce Davidson, and many more. But never has it been so powerfully and lyrically portrayed as in these carefully orchestrated sequences from Christophe Agou, a photographer whose searing images haunt and intrigue us at the same time. Bridging the worlds of documentary and art photography, Life Below is a series of frozen moments, revealing fear, love, affection, stress, and solitude. The compelling photographs are an intimate rendezvous with people in a meditative state: people from all walks of life who have not yet put on a mask. This is at times a dark, but always sensitive view of a corner of our world.