The grit, danger and occasional glamour of life on New York’s subway in the 1970s and 80s has been captured in a set of photographs.
Acclaimed photographer Willy Spiller, who lives in Zurich, Switzerland, captured the threatening, violent, funny and delightful contradictions of the city’s graffiti-ridden transport network from 1977 to 1984.
From a man with a boombox standing perilously close to the tracks to schoolgirls slumped in their seats while chatting idly, the images depict the raw energy of the city, evoking classic films like the Warriors and Wild Style.
Spiller, whose book Hell On Wheels has recently been republished as a special edition, said: ‘The New York City subway system of the 1970s and 80s was sometimes referred to as Hell on Wheels. To me this conjures images of a steel prison, rattling through the underworld’s eternal darkness.
‘Why then have I never felt such freedom – freedom, abandonment and equality – as on a subway train in this storied town?’
Spiller himself has always loved fairy tales, and in producing the shots relished the idea that the story may not always have a happy ending.
He added: ‘Forever a lover of fairy tales, I was always enthralled when I plunged into the rattling world of these mobile metal living rooms, like Alice in Wonderland, never knowing whether the next moment would be threatening, violent or funny, frightening or delightful.
‘Here I could blithely observe and capture the vast human menagerie of the metropolis.’
Schoolgirls On the A-Train to Far Rockaway, New York, 1978. Acclaimed photographer Willy Spiller spent two decades capturing the threatening, violent, funny and delightful contradictions of the city’s subway
Rush Hour on Lexington IRT. Spiller said: ‘Each car is a sweaty, rattling microcosm of the city itself – a loud, crowded, colorful melting pot where everyone is thrust into everyone else’s business’
Downtown Express 72nd Street Station, West Side IRT, 1977. Residents wait on the platform as a subway train rushes past
Jerome Avenue IRT Line, 1980. Passengers are seated beside the graffitied walls of the train. Spiller said: ‘The New York City subway system of the 1970s and 80s was sometimes referred to as Hell on Wheels. To me this conjures images of a steel prison, rattling through the underworld’s eternal darkness’
Getting to the Office, Grand Central Station, 1983. Spiller said: ‘They seemed equally exposed and uninhibited, as if they’d checked in their private lives above ground – and were curiously indifferent to me and my camera’
On the Beat, Police Control, 72nd Street Station West Side IRT Line, 1977
Dangerous Ride, Boy Clinging Outside a Subway Car, 1978. Spiller has always loved fairy tales, and in producing the shots relished the idea that the story may not always have a happy ending
Conversation on the A-Train, Subway NY, 1982, Two passengers in conversation beside a tequila poster
Riding Together, Subway New York, Unguided Tour Hell on Wheels, NY, 1977-1985. Spiller said: ‘Forever a lover of fairy tales, I was always enthralled when I plunged into the rattling world of these mobile metal living rooms, like Alice in Wonderland, never knowing whether the next moment would be threatening, violent or funny, frightening or delightful’
Ghettoblaster Man Waiting, 72nd Street Station West Side IRT Line, Subway New York. A man dressed in orange trousers stands perilously close to the tracks
After the Rehearsal, Columbus Circle, Subway NY 1982. Dancers wait on the platform to return to their homes as a train rumbles past
A Train to Brighton Beach, 1977. Spiller said: Why then have I never felt such freedom – freedom, abandonment and equality – as on a subway train in this storied town?’
Elevated Station 180 St, Queens, New York, 1982
Conductor Between Subway Cars, Subway New York, Unguided Tour Hell on Wheels, NYC, 1977-1985. A conductor peers out over the platform
