The Market-Frankford Line 1977

In 1976, while a student at the Philadelphia College of Art, I embarked upon a project to document the people and architecture of the Market Frankford Line, a combination subway and elevated train that ran 12.8 miles from Center City to Northeast Philadelphia. At the time, it was a system in transition with some sections and stations undergoing reconstruction. While it retained the look and feel of the 1930’s, it was overlaid with the culture and fashions of late 1970’s urban America. I found the juxtaposition fascinating, and the everyday dramas played out on the trains, stairwells, and platforms visually compelling.