By: Ameena Khan and Margot Dragos
On Sept. 22, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts & Design presented “In Service: MTA Photographs by Christopher Payne,” a new behind-the-scenes photography exhibition located in multiple subway stations, centering on New York City’s (NYC) transit system and capturing the people who maintain it.
The event was held in Grand Central Madison, featuring photographer Christopher Payne and MTA Arts & Design Director Tina Vaz. This marks the first system-wide photography takeover where all 52 lightboxes, illuminated display fixtures throughout five subway stations, are equipped with just one photographer’s work. These stations include Grand Central Terminal, 42 St-Bryant Park, Atlantic Av-Barclays Center, and Bowling Green.
Each station reflects unique themes spanning from human service and presence at MTA’s five operating agencies to the manufacturing and maintenance of buses.
“Most people never see the inside of these workplaces until now, until [Payne] captures what is going on there,” stated Janno Lieber, Chair and CEO of the MTA.
“To capture this infrastructure and its intricate networks, Payne often creates composite images built from multiple exposures taken over extended periods,” according to the MTA Arts & Design website. “This meticulous approach gives his photographs the calm, still quality that his sitters and industrial subjects often convey, despite the activity and sounds of their industrial surroundings.”
“I grew up in Boston, and as a kid, I’d take the subway there from one end of the city to the other,” Payne expressed. “I’ve had this lifelong fascination with trains and subways because I spent so much time on them.”
Payne’s photographs span all of the MTA’s operating agencies, such as NYC Transit, Metro-North Railroad, and Bridges and Tunnels. He traveled from across NYC and Yonkers to MTA manufacturing facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska, and St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Payne further expressed how being able to receive access to MTA operating agencies “you don’t normally get to go into” intrigued him most regarding his photography project.
“I felt a little bit like a kid in a candy store. And when you show up, let’s say, at a place like Kawasaki, Lincoln, Nebraska, you know, no one has any idea that the subway cars they ride are made in the middle of the country.”
Payne recalled how most workers who build the transit system New Yorkers ride and rely on every day have never visited NYC.
“When I go [to the manufacturing facilities] and I say, ‘This is the bus that I ride every day with my daughter’ […] that forms a connection with these people,” stated Payne. “They want to visit New York. They realize that what they’re working on actually has an impact thousands of miles away, and that’s a wonderful feeling.”
When asked about his creative process while working with employees at MTA operating facilities, Payne tells The Vanguard, “Usually, the best compliment I get is when [the workers] look at the picture I’ve taken and see it on my computer screen. They’re like, ‘Oh, my God, I never thought I could look like that,” These photos can be seen in the worker portraits featured in the Grand Central Terminal Dining Concourse.
The installation comes at the end of the 40th anniversary of the MTA Arts & Design program, which encourages subway use through visual and performing arts.
“We thought that in celebration of the 40th anniversary this would be a great opportunity to pilot this kind of takeover,” Tina Vaz, MTA Arts & Design director, told The Vanguard. “Each station is a unique experience, but if you see multiple stations, it’s part of a larger story. So we thought from a narrative and visual perspective it could have a greater impact.”
Payne’s photographs tell the story of MTA workers in and outside of NYC that keep transit running for millions of riders.
“This is really a love letter to the MTA,” Lieber said. “And, most importantly, to the people who make our system possible.”
“We know that art can brighten the journey for people,” said Vaz. “And so to be able to deliver that as part of their experience and to have the opportunity to reach so many people through art is really unprecedented at this scale.”
“In Service: MTA Photographs” by Christopher Payne is on view through March 29, 2027.
For more information, you can visit https://www.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/in-service.