About us

What?

www.ubahn.photos – and its English partner domain www.subway.photos – is a strictly non-commercial, self-funding documentary photo project publishing its artistically minded photo series in the internet free of adverts, free of charge and being accessible for everyone, as taking a stand against times where only commerce counts.

Where?

Every European capital having a picturesque as well as historically interesting underground transportation network to explore.

Why?

Day by day all around the globe trains carry passengers. They are backbone of what we declare a civil society. In particular trains running in the underground, in the bowls of our cities, are interesting as they work independent from the rhythm given by day and night. They have their own atmosphere. Traditionally their world of tubes and tunnels is a living proof of urban development and how humans took influence on mother Earth. In a well-developed world with plenty of overfed people not fighting for things already being achieved, this website and its photo series shall be document to something that keeps our life style running and a tribute to people working for that.

How?

The whole subway network has to be covered by making a stop at every single underground station. At least the station sign has to be captured in a standardised way. That standardisation has to create a recurrent theme matching all station signs of a particular subway. An additional requirement is to shoot a most possible high-grade architecture photo within the short time of two subsequent trains. That is sometimes 5, sometimes 10 but also sometimes only 2 minutes. Additionally my subway photos get shot using a prime lens solely, only at open aperture, that is f/1.4, to capture realistic contrasts and natural light. Post production is minimal, as only contrasts and decontamination get applied to reveal true colours and a realistic vibe. All images are freehand photographs without a tripod being used. And yes, moments with no people exist. They are very short, but they happen. That is what I developed patience and a feeling for.

Who?

Photographer Florian Wizorek from Berlin

Networks