Here For The Ride

Andre Wagner’s take on New York City fits squarely into the city’s traditions of street photography. His technical approach is more in line with many of the genre’s early luminaries than his contemporaries—he shoots black and white film with a Leica camera and develops his work in his own darkroom in Brooklyn. And in his images we’re close to the people he’s looking at, on the subway and in the street, seeing them through a wide angle lens as we might in an image by Lee Friedlander or Bruce Davidson. But Wagner’s work does not depend on the fact that it’s are an elegant step forward on a path we know. His photographs from Brooklyn stoops, crowded trains, and midtown intersections are all of the moment and graceful in their own right. Whether stark or light with joy, his photographs measure the emotions of public space without ever feeling forceful.

This month, Wagner’s first Monograph, “Here For The Ride,” was released in a limited edition by Creative Future. The book, which consists of sixty-two photographs, “chronicles the everyday life of people as they embark on a personal journey through the New York subway system.” Again, we see him working along the lines of the genre’s most essential subjects, but can expect, beyond an effective update, unique revelations from Wagner’s nuanced eye. Throughout his work, including his more formal portraiture (he has been commissioned by Vogue, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, among others), he reveals a casual emotionality in his subjects. We see expressions that reveal sides of people we could hope to know after a long conversation or a shared experience, except Wagner has found them while photographing on the go. As a result, his work carries the city’s energy without ever feeling distracted; he knows how to give his subjects deserved attention, even when he’s not breaking stride to take their pictures.

More: www.andredwagner.com