Week 20: The Commute

Jonah certainly is growing up in a different world from that of his parents' childhood. Since he was a few weeks old, Jonah has been a regular straphanger. Like most boys his age, he loves trains; I'm so glad that he also gets to ride one on a very regular basis. When we decided to move to New York over five years ago, we also made the decision to sell both of our cars. It was absolutely the right decision. We truly have no need for a car in the city and when we need one to get away, we rent.

We ride the subway at least twice a day and almost every day. It's such an easy and inexpensive way to get around; it's safe; it's relatively clean; it tends to be just as fast if not faster than a car. (It is really a shame that more US cities haven't embraced public transportation.) So, I knew from the outset of this project that I needed to get a shot of Jonah on the subway. I may even get more than one, who knows. It really is a large part of our lives and something that I feel separates Jonah's experiences from many other 2 year olds - even many here in the City.

Jonah still gets to and from the subway in a stroller, but more often than not, he now begs us to get out of the stroller and "sit on the train." When there's a seat by the window, he normally ends up standing so he can watch the world go by. Some day we'll ditch the stroller altogether, but not yet.

Photo: this is my 24mm at f/2. This is lit by nasty subway car "fluorescent" light. I still have no clue what color that light actually is. It's ugly, though - especially in the old cars on our line. I've been practicing shooting on the train for some time now and am getting better at it. It really needs flash to get some decent light in there, but I haven't been brave enough to whip out the lights yet. This is the way it should be done.