Photographer Andreina Lairet will join us Feb. 15th to talk about Trains in Tokyo

Time on Tracks

Subways and trains exist in every metropolis in the world as reliable methods of urban transportation. In Tokyo, the commute is an everyday activity shared by millions of citizens, daily. In a sense, the commute contributes to the definition of city life itself.

The goal of this project was to produce a series of photographic images that portray scenes of the daily commute in Tokyo, specially focusing on, but not limited to, the rush hour periods of the day. The final selection of photographs takes the viewer on a journey of personal impressions through some of Tokyo’s train stations, from the lonely hours of dawn to the busy evening rush.

Bio

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Andreina Lairet has been living in Tokyo for the last 4 years as the recipient of a Monbusho scholarship. She has recently completed an MA in Visual Arts/Photography, at Nihon University Graduate School of Arts. Previous to this, in 1999, Andreina obtained a BA degree in Media Studies, at the Andres Bello Catholic University, in Caracas, Venezuela.
The decision to come to Japan to pursue studies in photography came after working in various media related activities, in Caracas and Buenos Aires. These included participating in film and photography projects, writing for publications and working in the dot.com industry.
In her photographic work, Andreina is primarily concerned with urban themes. Time on the tracks, her most recent photographic project, combines a variety of photographic techniques to portray, in black and white images, scenes of very well-known train and subway stations in Tokyo, during different times of the day. This idea came as a result of carrying out participant observation of her co-passengers during her daily commutes to school in an attempt to decipher her new environment.
Currently Andreina is exploring the theme of personal space and individuality in a new series of street portraits taken in different areas of Tokyo.
As a teenager, Andreina also lived in the Former Yugoslavia and Austria.