Davidson's first extensive series in color, his exploratoin into the dark grafitti-filled New York subway perfectly complements his portrayal of the everyday human condition.

Speaking to us about how he views the project today, Davidson reiterates this sentiment: “I feel that there was a passion and a purpose to photographing in the subway. This photograph was taken as part of an ongoing series of color subway portraits in the early 1980s. Yet, as is the paradox of New York itself, these photographs also highlight the isolation of individuals within this sea of passengers; in his words “ [people] who are trapped underground, hiding behind masks, and closed off from each other. Sometimes, I’d take the picture, then apologize, explaining that the mood was so stunning I couldn’t break it, and hoped they didn’t mind. I revisited the Lower East Side cafeteria where I’d photographed several years before… The cafeteria was a haven for the elderly Jewish people surviving the decaying nearby neighborhoods.Born in 1933 near Chicago, Davidson’s subjects have including the Civil Rights Movement in the early ’60s, a Brooklyn gang, Spanish Harlem, circus performers, and a 5-year project on New York’s subway system in the gritty ‘80s. Davidson ist berühmt für Fotobuch-Klassiker wie "East 100th street" (Andrew Roth, The Book of 101 Books, Seite 196/197; Martin Parr, Gerry Badger, The Photobook, volume 1, Seite 18). He familiarized himself with a smaller area, and used that to tell a much larger story, due to the intimacy with his subjects. Seeking to uncover beauty that habitually goes unnoticed, Subway was Davidson’s first documentary series shot in color. Davidson had an intimate style, and he often embedded himself closely with his subjects to complete his projects.

In this edition of classic photographic literature, a sequence of 118 images move the viewer through a landscape at times menacing, and at other times lyrical, soulful, and satiric. After completing his military service, Davidson worked as a freelance photographer and even became an associate member of the Magnum Photos agency in 1958 and a year later, a full member.The brilliant flash, combined with fluorescent lighting, intense colors and Davidson's probing vision, produced images that are dramatic and at times surreal. The photographer’s descent into the city’s famed transit system followed a period of broader exploration in New York. As such, these are sure to become highly collectible photographs given the provenance linking them directly to the Magnum collective and each of the photographers who chose to participate in the event.

It’s a great social equalizer … From the moving train above ground, we see glimpses of the city, and as the train moves into the tunnels, sterile fluorescent light reaches into the stony gloom and we, trapped inside, all hang on together,” observes Davidson in the introduction to his book. As I went down the subway stairs, through the turnstile, and onto the darkened station platform, a sinking sense of fear gripped me. His glowing skin tone seemed to match the chains around his neck, which James Agee would often refer to as ‘badges of being.

Although our meeting was momentary, he gave himself to the camera and then was gone, back into the bowels of Brooklyn. This helped perpetuate a certain stereotype among the community, which stills exists in the hearts and minds of some people to this day.