A WORLD OF ITS OWN
A World of Its Own is a reflection of my first-time relationship with public transit. Everything about the daily experience of public transit was unfamiliar territory for me. So many people, new conversations and happenings every day. And sometimes, confrontation. Although always entertained, I never felt completely at ease, confined with so many strangers. I started documenting, hopping from cart to cart of the moving train. It was like a daily scavenger hunt. Each cart, each day was a new scene playing out, the characters constantly swapping in and out. I spent hours every day on the train, photographing these scenes during my commute.
The BART transported me into a whole new perspective on how people interact with each other. I found myself relating to the strangers I photographed. The theme of the images I captured became waiting. Everyone was waiting in their own way. Reading, phone scrolling, sleeping, talking, laughing. In a way, we were all in it together; we were all just passing the time.
In a way, the BART became a world of its own. A separate, moving world.
I experienced my first earthquake on the BART.
I watched someone overdose on BART.
I watched a robbery.
I watched people kick each other off.
I watched as multiple people got arrested day in and out.
I watched many homeless people attempt to live on BART.
I even know what happens when someone gets killed on BART.
BART has shown me it’s world, and I’ve taken it with me, but I hope I never have to ride in it again.
-BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)
