If timed just right you can get a killer sunset just over Carroll Gardens. This day the train actually stopped on the tracks long enough that everyone looked up from their books and papers and took in the last rays of the day. Even the loud, grumpy dude at the end of the train calmed down for a beat or two. Can you find the Statue of Liberty in the scene?
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Underground Exhibition
1 August, 2005 • Express Train
Photography © Travis Ruse • photoblogs.org • listed
Nice, really nice. I see lady liberty down at the lower left. Was this shot from inside the subway car? I was surprised to see an exterior shot on your blog.
Nice shot. I haven't seen any of yours from outside the subway. I like the sunset and the clouds. Although, it seems a bit off that the horizon isn't level.
I did a double take when the pic popped up to make sure I clicked F-train. This is in no way meant to be negative. Your shots are always so tight and in such a confined space that this shot feels like an explosion. Such depth and even more impact because it breaks from the norm. Wonderful as usual.
You have great pics, this one in particular would make great wallpaper on my laptop. Anyway to post your pics so that it would fit the entire screen?
Yes this was taken from inside the car. At this point you are approaching the highest point in the NYC Subway system, Smith and 9th st. 88ft above street level.
Well, this is a nice urban shot but similar to hundreds of sunset shots. When I first saw it I was afraid you had change subject, because your subway photos are much more interesting. I look at them every day, and I learn something always.
The sunsets are always irresistable and I love being reminded that, even in New York City, the sky is always bigger and grander than anything we can build, AND I love riding this section of tracks at sundown. But I have to agree with Luisa that sunsets are, sadly, "overexposed." This photo doesn't have the same originality as so many of your others...
Wow. When my eyes fell upon this photo I had to check the address to confirm that I really was at your photoblog! This is a nice surprise, it may not be too original but it's good for a change.
travis...i gotta say man, you've really outdone yourself. you really capture brooklyn at its most breathtaking (i'm so freakin' jealous!). people who see this might actually think we live in a beautiful borough.
Dear Erica, We DO live in a beautiful borough!
The complaint that this is merely just another sunset shot misses the larger (forgive me) picture .... particularly in this context. The audience /knows/ this is the express train photoblog and knows the photographer is inside a subway car, heading home for the night, yet they are challenged to actually accept this fact because of their preconceptions of what subway photography is supposed to aspire to. Yeah, the composure might not be the best (tilted, slightly out of focus horizon, etc) but it is what we don't see but yet must still acknowledge that makes this photograph all the more powerful. A tension worthy of contemporary art! Congrats..
yes, we do live in a beautiful borough. :)
nice shot of the Gardens.
Stunning. I like the old buildings juxtaposed with the sunset.
I can't imagine seeing Lady Liberty every day on my commute. I guess that's her - if you follow the horizon line from the left, the very first upright. This is like a breath of fresh air, in my mind you're always underground!
I don't see any pigeon cages on the rooftops. That's always how I picure New York rooftops. For reference rent the movie "Batteries Not Included".
absolutely stunning. and who the hell cares about a slightly tilted of the hozion? it makes this photo that much more memorable. gorgeous colors from every corner of the frame.
yes, an incredible change from the normal shots here on express train, and secretly, i always wanted to see you step outside cause i knew whatever you framed out there would be eggcellent and you've proved my secret hypothesis to be true, even though you did not techincally step outside.
wonderful.
It's amazing how you're able to capture these special moments...Just luck and taking the time to look out of the window, I guess.
I am living in Australia at the moment, and will be heading back to New York in September for a couple of weeks. Your photos from the subway will make me much more aware of what's happening whilst I am on the train or just waiting at a station.
Thanks for sharing this photo, and all of your photos with the rest of us.
All the best,
Rob Stahl
Brisbane, Australia
i was joking...i agree, we do live in an awesome borough; since i'm a kid, i was always blown away by the views from the f train. another one that might be a less obvious favorite of mine is the (not from the train) view from seventh avenue, looking down ninth street towards the gowanus (you'd be facing 6th avenue). ~I love it!~
Wow! Considering the number of comments one of your posts normally gets this is fascinating. Susan Sontag had some interesting things to say about beauty in photography.
from "On Photography"
"Certain glories of nature, for example. have been all but abandoned to the indefatigable attentions of amateur camera buffs. The image-surfeited are likely to find sunsets corny; they now look, alas, too much like photographs"
And more recently in "An argument about beauty"
Travis I think what you are doing here is very brave. To reveal yourself and the process during the making of a project takes real guts. Personally I think the work is outstanding on many levels and I for one will definitely be in line to buy the book.
Oops! Argument on beauty link:
http://www.amacad.org/publications/fall2002/Sontagweb.pdf
I like this landscape.