Subway Series

Manar AbdelMaaboud creates what she describes as a “collage of alternative realities”. Coming from a place where the subway had a separate car only for women, she begins to take pictures of people on the less systematic New York subway. Particularly, people engaging in a physical indifference to their surroundings, whether if it’s by using their phones, listening to music, or reading. She transfers the image in a collage style to a canvas where she places the individuals in a different setting, whether private or public, along side politicians and caricatures of children’s TV shows. While she creates a space for an exchange of idea, the individuals captured at the train remain indifferent to this new space they are placed in. She creates this juxtaposition, as an attempt of change, although she herself thinks is futile.