Photographer spends years on street corner capturing same commuters daily (2017) | Hacker News Reader

Photographer spends years on street corner capturing same commuters daily (2017)

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48 pointsthunderbong22 comments

Link to many pairs of photos showing the same individual(s):

https://www.peterfunch.com/portfolio/42nd-and-vanderbilt/

In each pair, the photos may be years apart!

What I find most fascinating is how consistent the photographed individuals are, in their demeanor and style, over time.

Why are there no dates on the photos (or just month and year for privacy reasons), even in the book there aren't any: https://tbwbooks.com/products/42nd-and-vanderbilt-second-edi... . Seeing the differences (and similarities) while knowing the time gap would be fascinating.

I wonder how he figured out if a person he just snapped had walked by years ago... I guess face recognition is possible.

this is art,it is not a file.

Would dates not enhance this art?

Maybe. It's possible too it would take something away. As it is we're left to wonder and we would of course lose that.

As I recall, Feynman made a comment in one of his autobiographies about an argument he had had with an artist friend about the beauty of a rose. His friend was frustrated with Feynman's reductionist approach to everything including the rose. Paraphrasing Feynman: "How does knowing more about how a rose works take away from its beauty?"

I wonder if Feynman understood that naivety is a thing you can lose or if he understood that but did not see any value in naivety, mystery.

Perhaps a counterpoint to Feynman: "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer".

I think not. I enjoyed looking for details, for example how a backpack is clean in one photo and dirty in the other. Not knowing the details let's the viewer ponder and compair with more curiosity and intrigue. It sets a mystery.

"From 2007 to 2016 Funch carried out his project 42nd and Vanderbilt in which he captures the same person twice, mid-commute, leaving the viewer to wonder if they were photographed days, months, or even years apart."

art is not editable. but I believe that cameras are not prohibitivly expensive, corners where many comuters pass are likely close to where you are, and your time is your own, so feel free to produce another similar art piece, with anotations of your choice, and in 8 or 9 years you can publish it. have fun!

It's reminiscent of but different from Philip Lorca diCorcia's automated street photographs in NYC from his "Heads" project: https://www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org/en/colle...

Funch's project is more interesting because it captures a person at least twice over time; however, the photos are less well executed compared to the ones from diCorcia, but that's to be expected as diCorcia only had to find good and photogenic photographs once per subject, Funch had to get his subject's photos at least twice --so it was much harder to do.

That's weird. The extreme bias towards individuals in the same pose make me think the pairs were found computationally. Could have been done by hand, but I'd expect much, much more variety.

This reminds me of Auggie's photo album in Smoke..."Sometimes the different ones become the same ones and the same ones disappear."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGV_h36uZ5E

Thank you for reminding me of this movie. It's one of my favorites and I haven't seen it in ages. Have to re-watch it now once more

I live in a somewhat small community (~25k) and I commuted into the city on public transportation for about 15 years. 10 years ago, I started working from home full-time.

I often see the people I used to commute with around town. I recognize them and remember them, but I’ve never had any interactions with them.

When I see them, I’m surprised by how much older they look. Then I realize I must look older to them.

These people on their daily commute reminded me of the work of Ritzo Ten Cate, called "Caught in the App" [0]. The photos of 'phone zombies' walking the street are indicative how much and how quickly society has changed under the influence of our tech devices. On the Dutch website [1] are some more pictures and link to a TEDx talk Ritzo gave on the art campaign.

[0] https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/haunting-photos-of-lo...

[1] https://ritzotencate.com/project/caught-in-the-app/

Before that it was newspapers. And the boomers who bitched I was on the computer for too long every day are now also doing their commute with their nose pressed against the glass of the window into a world of easily detectable fake news.

Before smartphones, there was not an equivalent number of people burying their heads in newspapers.

Many people point to “well this is just the new X”, but I think this underrepresents the impact of modern tech, which in many cases bears a passing resemblance to some earlier era while in reality having a drastically different footprint and impact on society.

Oh for sure, wealth accumulation, corporate lobbying, public indifference have certainly created a modern technological dystopian hellscape dissimilar to the comparatively minuscule newspaper conglomerates of the before-fore-times.

Quite interesting project. I find the topic of street photography interesting as well as many people don't realise that in most places they have no right to privacy in public, also that they use this power themselves even when taking their own photos (there are still people in the background).

Just picked up a Pentax 67ii as well - digital cameras are great for capturing must have moments but recently I've found there's something about film that makes me slow down and enjoy each shot so much more. I still have my phone for quick shots at the end of the day.

Interesting project. Most of the pairs seem to not be taken very far apart.

I’m calling bullshit.

Too many people have the exact same clothes, the same hairstyle, same accessories, and none seem to be aged 9 years

The project spanned 9 years. The photos in each pair are not 9 year apart.

Yes but it said the photos might be years apart; I don’t see any of those

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