Airports and Transportation
The photos below were completed between 2:00 am and 4:00 am to virtually empty terminals. The lack of people and the lack of movement from travelers is what interested me about this block of time. It is the stillness of the middle of the night.
Traveling forces people to be “someone else” while going “somewhere else.” The airport is a nonhuman, fully automated environmental space. Ticket less travel affords itinerants the opportunity to plan their “somewhere else” on the without talking with another human being. Moving walkways transport them while eliminating their physical involvement. Escalators elevate itinerants even before their eventual ascent into the heavens. Travelers are dehumanized, while their luggage is searched and their bodies are subjected to machines deciphering traces of any metal (despite the fact that the environment is constructed primarily with steel). These voyagers must produce picture identification at any given moment. ATM machines disburse cash without the friendly smile of a bank teller. Conductor less trams transports passengers effortlessly from one space to another. Cellular communications are limited due to disruptions necessitated by the use of radar. Even when one eventually embarks onto the airplane, it is partially controlled by automatic pilot. Finally, at the conclusion of getting “somewhere else,” a Dr. Seuss-like contraption spits out the travelers’ earthly possessions only to be caught on a rotating, stainless steel cylinder.
