Courtesy of @subwayhands.
They say that the eyes are the window to the soul but photographer Hannah La Follette Ryan demonstrates that the hands are truly a synecdoche of the human experience. Massachusetts-bred and a New Yorker by right, La Follette Ryan has been documenting strangers’ hands on the New York City subway since 2015 via her Instagram account @subwayhands, which has accumulated a whopping 141K followers. Despite its mundanity, people are clearly fascinated by the goings on of public transportation (as exemplified by the popularity of Instagram accounts such as @subwaycreatures and @hotdudesreading also).
In an environment that is both so familiar to most of us and also objectively so vexatious and especially in a transitory city such as NYC —the breadth of encounters and experiences on public transport are endless. And while being in such a public place may force some of us to restrain our physicalities until we reach our destinations, the hands betray what lies underneath. Elusively (and unashamedly) taken on an iPhone, the photographs capture the fleeting moments of fondness, rumination, discomfort and impatience that may not so easily be betrayed by a face but can easily be surmised in the choreography of hand movement. In all its chaos and complexities, there are millions of stories to be told in New York, and with each post La Follette Ryan tells a different one. We spoke to the photographer about creeping strangers out, her recent trip to Berlin, and collaborating with Valentino.
"Our hands can telegraph our mood in ways we don't pay attention to. I find them more accessible than faces."
What is it about the subway or public transportation in general that makes it such an intriguing place to photograph people? Do you feel like people are more honest or vulnerable in such a setting?
When you ride the subway everyday you get comfortable, even relaxed, but you’re still on your guard because you’re surrounded by strangers. I think it’s that combination of familiarity and the unexpected that makes public transportation such a compelling subject.
People say that the eyes are the window to the soul—do you feel this can also be said about people’s hands?
Definitely. Our hands can telegraph our mood in ways we don’t pay attention to. I find them more accessible than faces.
Famous artists such as Georgia O’Keefe and Egon Schiele are known for their evocative depictions of hands. Are there any particular artists that inspire your work?
So many artists are preoccupied with hands. Look at Old Masters’ hand studies. Alfred Stieglitz’s portraits of Georgia O’Keeffe’s hands have had the single greatest impact on my work. I saw them in an Art History class in college and something clicked. I’m really interested in other artists examining NYC: Jason Polan’s whimsical quest to draw every person in New York, street photographers like Andre Wagner and Daniel Arnold, David Rothenberg, Yuji Agematsu, and Rose Marcus.
You mentioned to me that you were recently in Berlin – how was the experience of “subwayhandsing” similar or different to the MTA in New York? Did you feel that there were more or less interesting characters in Berlin than in New York?
It was my first trip to Berlin, I stayed in Kreuzberg and mostly rode the U6 and U7. Berlin subway stations are so aesthetically pleasing. I loved Fehrbelliner Platz and Jungfernheide. The graphic design is incredible. The subwayhands experience was quite different because the Berlin metro is calm and civilised. People move around the train car less. The clusters of seats facing each other made it a little trickier to manoeuvre and without the NYC chaos, it’s harder to blend in. The people watching was so good. I vividly remember a dude furiously making out with his girlfriend while holding a jug of pomegranate juice. Oh and that thing where you can open the subway doors before the train comes to a complete stop? Crazy.
Do you have a pet peeve for a certain thing that people do on public transportation?
Lazy coughing and sneezing. The longer I live in New York, the more I worry about germs and biological threats.
I often see interesting strangers or things in public that I wish I could take a picture of. Do you ask your subjects before shooting them, and if not, do you have a technique for stealthily shooting pictures?
Early on I would ask for permission, but two things happened immediately: the naturalism of the photos disappeared and people needed reassuring that I don’t have a hand fetish. Because I’m shooting with my phone I can get away with a lot. I try to be invisible, but my most reliable approach is being shameless, an important trait for any street photographer to nurture.
"The MTA is a Noah's Ark of human oddities..."
Do you have a favourite line on the subway?
I have this secret love for the 1 train, which runs between lower Manhattan and the Bronx. It’s one of the older local trains and stubbornly inconvenient, known for being ancient, overcrowded at rush hour and painfully slow whenever there’s somewhere you need to be. When the MTA gets a facelift it will probably be one of the first trains to go, but I’ll mourn it. The cars date back to the ‘80s. They have ageing fluorescent lights which give off a moody yellow glow, but when the 1 goes high above ground in Harlem you get to admire how the trains stitch through the city like needlepoint.
You recently teamed up with Valentino on a collaboration to promote their newest handbag. What was it like having your work recognised by such an esteemed brand? Is the subway a good source of fashion inspiration?
Such a thrill! The team was fantastic and it was a treat to bring others into this project that I’m typically working on alone. We caused a commotion shooting on the trains which was amusing because I’m usually trying to keep a low profile.
The MTA is a Noah’s Ark of human oddities, so yes it is also full of fashion inspiration. The other day I ran after a woman on the subway platform because I needed to know where she bought her clogs.