Taxi Chaos

By: pbcmedia

Sep 09 2009

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Category: PORTRAITS, Working The Series

6 Comments

Aperture:f/2.5
Focal Length:50mm
ISO:1600
Shutter:1/0 sec
Camera:Canon EOS 5D

Regular readers know that I love photographs in motion, particularly from a vehicle.

The amount of motion that a NYC cabbie deals with in a regular shift must simply be exhausting.  The different sizes of vehicles, the speeds, the narrow streets they have to negotiate if trucks or cars are double parked, pedestrians walking, dogs, kids, cyclists.  And, if you factor in the blinking billboards, signs, some stories tall—it is almost overwhelming for me to ride in the cab, never mind drive one.

I stood on the center strip of Park Avenue one afternoon during my visit and took several frames of vehicles barreling down the street-my usual vehicle in stages of motion- type of thing.  I knew I would do something with the images but had no idea at the time I captured them.

I decided to put one of a blurred yellow taxi into the image of one I’d taken from the inside of Je-Han’s taxi, sort of my homage to Taxi Chaos.

Hey, it keeps me off the streets, what can I say?

And at my age, street negotiations might be a bit ‘iffy’ if you know what I mean.

Here are the other images in Working, the Series as well as some that simply have people as their subject, a focus I am finding I am beginning to enjoy.

In previous posts in this series, I had one image of two people but from behind them, and two images of car wash attendants, One and Two with permission, and one without, seen through suds and water.

And, then, one two weeks ago of a New York City Taxi driver, named Jehan-Max.  The following week was also of Jehan-Max but I’ve given him night, a view of his New York City looking uptown from 82nd street and the perspective of a pilot flying a cab through the night sky.

In addition, I have posted several other “people” photographs as well:

Men and Weight: Pas de Pounds

Museum Goer: Rapt Attention

Waiting for Teddy to Pass By

A Man and His Tomatoes

6 comments on “Taxi Chaos”

  1. I love the motion you get in your photos… So interesting.

    I have dusted off my photoshop…. I have some skills…. just you wait…

    Really really neat photo again. But Pat, you know, we would all prefer it if you were alive to take the pictures. So you might want to be a bit more cautious when you are a pedestrian, and driver. The only thing that gives me solace half the time when I look at half of these pictures is that I know that they are taken at the crack of dawn when no one else is on the road but you…

    • This one wasn’t even dangerous as I was in the back seat, no hands on the wheel or standing in the median strip of Park Avenue. Median strip in Park Avenue may not be the right word since it’s so fancy.

  2. I love his eyes in the mirror . . .

  3. As you might imagine, this one I love. I’m just waiting to hear the crash.

    • Yep, I did know you’d like this, Don. Time for me to move on to other peeps, but I did enjoy doing this series about Je-han!


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