Customer Reviews

Subway Memories

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Camilo Jose Vergara, a Chilean immigrant moved to New York City in 1970. In order to better understand his newly adopted home, he used the city's subway system as a means to explore the city. Trained as a sociologist, he took photos of what he saw. "Subway Memories" is a collection of his best photos taken from 1970-2004.

Individually, there is very little special about his photographs. They look like snap shots of ordinary people and scenes. What gives these photos value is that they are brought together as a collection. Over the years, Vergara went back to the same spots and took photos from the same vantages. Through this collection, the reader can see how sections of New York grew old, died, decayed and then were reborn.

On a personal note, I can remember travelling New York's subways in the late 1970's and early 1980's. These were the nadir years of New York's public transit system. I loved seeing photos from that time period. I still find it unbelievable to see how bad conditions were during these times. Some of Vergara's photos are a blast from a nightmarish past.