Woman Uses Her iPhone To Capture Portraits Of Strangers On Her Daily Commute To Work, And The Result Is Impressive
Most of us take some sort of public transportation to work. You can see a lot of different and interesting people there. Most of them are usually busy thinking about the day ahead, daydreaming, busy with their phones or books.
Dina Alfasi a mother of an 15-year-old and an Israeli engineer who works in a hospital, takes advantage of these moments to capture simple but beautiful portraits of strangers lost in thought. On her daily commute to work, she uses her iPhone to photograph simple moments of life.
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“I’m inspired by the little moments that happen every day. My work is a testament to telling stories through a single photo and proof that all you need is just to look around to find magic moments,” said Dina to Bored Panda.
“Every day, I take some form of public transit from my hometown to my job in Northern Israel as an architectural practical engineer. It was during this journey I began using my iPhone to photograph other passengers,” shared Dina when asked how she got into photography.
“I try to convey emotions in photography. So I’m looking for the people that make me stop for a moment and think, what’s their story? I try to capture the depth of human complexity through photographing strangers on my daily commute. There is something both intimate and vulnerable about the way a person exists in a public space. My daily photographs capture something inherently familiar in each of the strangers, lost in thought on their way somewhere.”
“It only started as a way to pass the time on public transportation. Then it evolved and became a very significant part of my artwork and my life in general. I feel like I’m taking a small part in documenting life during this time.”
“The availability of the iPhone camera that is always with me gives me the ability to shoot quickly and without attracting attention. So as soon as I find something interesting, I immediately check the lighting conditions and try to think from what angle it is worth taking a picture.”
Dina told what part of this project she likes the best: “My favorite part is reading comments from people who write to me after seeing my photo, telling me how the picture made them feel, that it reminded them of something or someone, and so on. It’s always exciting and not obvious.” She also shared that she doesn’t like to feel like she missed out on a wonderful shot, because it doesn’t always work out.
Dina works as a architectural practical engineer. She also likes to spend time at the beach and skate park, where she captures other types of photographs. She shared that she feels inspired by wonderful photographers from all over the world, especially from the phone photography community.