Going into the Tunnel....

As I was caricaturing people on the train today, something so obvious, yet almost forgotten, occured to me.

on the train we spend a LOT of time underground.
In the tunnel.
Where it's dark.
In the tunnel.
where it's scary!


BOO!!!!

I remember as a kid riding the subway for the first time how terrified I was when ever we left the outdoor stations and went underground into the tunnel! There was always a moment of real intense fear accompanied by a million random thoughts, among them being... what if the train gets stuck in the tunnel? what if we cant get out? are there monsters and cavemen in the tunnels?
The one tunnel that was especially frightening was the one between High Street Brooklyn Bridge and Bway Nassau. I recall traveling with my mom as a kid and asked her why we always spent so long in this particular tunnel. She casually replied, "it's because we're traveling underwater!" Im sure you can imagine the unexplainable horror my five year old, hyperactive, artistic mind must have visualized upon hearing THAT news!.. Visions of billions of gallons of water spilling onto the tracks, leaving us trapped commuters wondering if we were going to be electrocuted or drowned.....

As I grew into adulthood I calmed my fears to the point where I didnt really think about it too much, and yet in a city full of millions of people, I wondered how my fellow commuter were dealing with their own personal "tunnel issues" or if they even had any. I began studying faces while underground to get some type of visual cue as to what people might be feeling....

I dont know If I captured anything concrete, but it did make for a more intense study of their faces.