© Jamel Shabazz, courtesy Galerie Bene TaschenArt & PhotographyLightboxJamel Shabazz’s joyful pictures of the New York City subwayThe street photographer has been capturing subway life for the past 40 yearsShareLink copied ✔️May 13, 2020Art & PhotographyLightboxTextEmily DinsdaleJamel Shabazz’s City Metro10 Imagesview more + Remember the pre-COVID days, when travelling on public transport seemed like an unremarkable act? And the enforced physical proximity of other people on a commute was nothing more than an inconvenience? Now, more than ever, there’s something especially poignant and joyful about Jamel Shabazz’s newly published collection of archival photographs, depicting New Yorkers happily occupying the shared space of the city subway. “For Shabazz, the subway represents a pathway for adventure and meeting new people. He began his study of the subways crowds in the 1980s and has routinely photographed its activity ever since,” the Bene Taschen Gallery explains. “City Metro showcases his keen eye for capturing the integrity and beauty of the city’s communities and the extent to which the NYC transit system serves as a fundamental component of urban life.” As a native New Yorker who’s been taking pictures since the mid-1970s, Shabazz is widely recognised as one of the city’s most eminent street photographers. His images document the vast changes the city and its inhabitants have undergone over the past 45 years, engaging with all the happiness, sorrow, and complexities of human experience you encounter on the streets of a metropolis. Despite having been taking pictures of the city for so many years, he’s never tired of his subject. The photographer previously told Dazed, “New York City has still maintained its vibrancy and constant flow of energy and magnetism that make it one of the greatest cities in the world.” City Metro by Jamel Shabazz is published by Galerie Bene Taschen and available now Saxophone Man Brooklyn, NYC, 1985© Jamel Shabazz, courtesy Galerie Bene TaschenExpand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MOREAn insider’s portrait of life as a young male modelRay Ban MetaIn pictures: Jefferson Hack launches new exhibition with exclusive eventVanmoofWhat went down at Dazed and VanMoof’s joyride around BerlinArt to see this week if you’re not going to Frieze 2025Here’s what not to miss at Frieze 2025Vanmoof8 Dazed Clubbers on the magic and joy of living in BerlinPortraits of sex workers just before a ‘charged encounter’Captivating photos of queer glamour in 70s New YorkThis erotic photobook archives a decade of queer intimacyGuen Fiore’s tender portraits of girls in the flux of adolescenceCowboys! Eagles! Death! Georg Baselitz’s prints tell a shocking life storyMarina Abramović: ‘Everything new is always criticised’