Hannah La Follette Ryan’s viral Instagram account, “Subway Hands,” has accrued over 90k followers since she started it in 2014. Her fascination with hands grew out of watching the candid mannerisms of people on New York City subways. According to her, hands can reveal a lot of information about a person, and sometimes they betray emotions that people try to conceal in their faces.
By nature, the subway is a democratic environment. No one who rides the subway is exempt from its delays, its crowds, its (sometimes unpleasant) sites and smells. By capturing peoples’ hands, but not their faces like in a typical portrait, some of the assumptions that could be made about who the subject is is more difficult. However, Hannah’s photographs reveal that it is possible to learn about love, work, pain and compassion by observing the strange beauty of a person’s hands.
ALL IMAGES © HANNAH LA FOLLETTE RYAN
PDNedu: Tell us about yourself.
Ryan: I grew up in Amherst, MA. My parents gave me an analog camera when I was in middle school and I’ve been taking pictures ever since. I went to college upstate where I studied Russian and Art History, not photography. But I usually had a camera near me. When I graduated, inertia pulled me to New York. I love this city. One of my earliest memories is visiting my uncle here, going to the Natural History Museum and FAO Schwartz, then sobbing in Grand Central because I was crushed to leave.
PDNedu: Many people know of your Instagram account, “Subway Hands.” Do you remember the first time you noticed someone’s hands on the subway?
Ryan: The first hand that caught my eye was squeezing the subway pole too tightly and had a bandaid on one knuckle. I remember being intensely curious and thinking there’s a story here. In that moment it occurred to me how much people reveal in their hands: tension, experience and age. These are things that they often consciously conceal in their faces. I took the picture and, without fully realizing it, started looking for other hand stories.
PDNedu: Do you notice hands in environments outside of the subway? What is different about people’s body language and/or the way they conduct themselves, in particular their hands, in this space?
Ryan: I’m obsessed with hands and am attuned to them everywhere, but public transportation provides blocks of time to observe and conjecture about other people and their lives up close. The subway is different because there are less distractions, no views and spotty cell phone reception. We’re all in this state of limbo, traveling alone but together. People retreat into their heads and stop thinking about their hands. Those are the moments I’m most interested in. My second favorite place for hand watching is at museums.
PDNedu: What other projects are you working on, and how do you see your “Subway Hands” project fitting into your larger oeuvre of work?
Ryan: I have a bunch of smaller projects that are ongoing and all take inspiration from NYC. I’m always trying to illustrate the experience of living in New York City, which is not replicable. I’m also a nanny and I photograph the kids I work with.
PDNedu: You have been able to capture some really incredible moments of tenderness and empathy through this project. I imagine that you’ve also witnessed some tense encounters. What have you learned from being a witness to the interactions of strangers in a communal space?
Ryan: New Yorkers are extremely vocal. I’m always struck by the feeling of solidarity when the train stalls or someone is playing a phone game on full volume without their headphones on. Most often I see strangers being either grumpy or gracious to each other. The ratio feels skewed towards graciousness. Most people smile at babies. More commuters clip their nails on the subway than you would think…
PDNedu: I am an avid people watcher on the subway. One time I was really taken by watching a very young couple with an infant on the train. I must have gotten carried away, because they noticed that I was watching them. Have anyone ever reacted similarly to you, or said no to you photographing them?
Ryan: I’m sneaky, but I do get caught more often now that I’m using my phone camera less. People are wary of being photographed, especially in close quarters. It can feel confrontational, even though I’m not photographing faces, so I like to immediately introduce myself and explain the project. At this point, most people are confused, and end up being either tolerant or disinterested. Sometimes it gets unpleasant. Occasionally someone will know about the project and get excited.
PDNedu: Has your “Subway Hands” account led to other creative projects or collaborations with other artists?
Ryan: Recently I had the opportunity to work with New York magazine on a fashion shoot on the subway, as well as with KARA and Dolce Vita on creative campaigns. The highlight of this past year was working with The New York Times Magazine, spotlighting strangers in love.
PDNedu: What’s next for you?
Ryan: Finishing up my MFA in photography at the School of Visual Arts!
See more of Hannah La Follette Ryan’s work on her Instagram (@subwayhands) and her website.
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