GOOD Pictures: Life on the Commuter Train

GOOD Pictures features work by a new photographer each week, with a focus on up-and-coming artists. It is curated by Stephanie Gonot and Jennifer Mizgata. 

Eddie Winter worked in Washington, D.C. for three years while living in Baltimore, taking the train more than an hour each day. His series Exciting New Positions! captures the commute perfectly. Many people sleep, surrendering to the repetitive lull of the train on the tracks. Some of the photos are funny. Some are contemplative. 

Winter's portraits speak to the diversity of they people who commute every day, and leave us wondering about people's lives outside the train. Why do these people choose to live so far from where they work, commuting hours every day? Who is this man who packs his own tiny pink pillow? Who is that hiding with the t-shirt over her face?  Who gave that woman her gigantic bouquet of flowers, and why?

“When you ride the train twice a day, you get to know the various conductors collecting tickets everyday," Winter says. "As a farewell gift, I put all those photos into a blurb book and gave a copy to my favorite conductors. I presented it all fancy wrapped with a red ribbon and all. I didn't hang around for them to open it, I just imagined their smiles and laughs.”

Eddie Winter now lives and works in Baltimore. View more of his work on his website.