People After Work

People After Work was photographed on the platform of a metro station in Guangzhou. I waited for each train to arrive and photographed the brief moment when its doors opened. For several seconds, the interior of the carriage became visible: some passengers looked at their phones, some rested with their eyes closed, some stared into the distance, while others stood silently among the crowd. The doors then closed, the train moved on, and the faces disappeared from view.

Photographed from a relatively fixed position, the open carriages were later stitched together into a single elongated image. The unfolded train becomes a continuous cross-section of the city, revealing the repeated gestures, postures, and expressions of people travelling home after work. They stand close to one another while remaining largely unknown to each other. They have left the workplace, yet are still contained within the commuting system, suspended before returning fully to their private lives.

Here, the metro functions as both a means of transportation and a transitional space between labour and everyday life. Fatigue, waiting, and momentary detachment are compressed into the few seconds between the opening and closing of the doors. After completing the photographs, I would take the same metro line home. My own experience as a commuter therefore remains embedded within the work.