The Intimacy of Place by Christofer C. Dierdorff

Visitors to the station will be greeted with a sea of faces, a broad cultural mix of individuals who define life in and around the 23rd Street Station. As a commentary on public transportation, where people from many walks of life are removed from their personal spaces and find themselves in close physical proximity with strangers, Dierdorff will populate the station with intimate portraits of fronts and backs of heads, photographed in locations that help describe their role within the larger community.

Artist Statement

“This sea of wondrous faces is Metro. Metro is not about people, Metro is people – thousands and thousands of different people every day. Each with their own story, their own worries, their own triumphs and their own tragedies – each different, each rare, each unique and each irreplaceable. The people who ride Metro every day are the same people from your favorite memory. They are your grandmother, your mother, your sister and your best friend. This proposal celebrates those people.”

About the Artist

CHRISTOFER C. DIERDORFF has been photographing for 26 years, with over 20 years in portraiture alone. Over the years, his portraits have included many world leaders and celebrities including President Clinton, Princess Margaret, Madeleine Albright, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa, Maya Angelou, Salman Rushdie, Nicolas Cage, David Hockney, Linus Pauling, William Burroughs and Francis Ford Coppola. He has been commissioned by the United Nations, RCA Music Group, Oxygen Media and MTV and was awarded a New York Times “Outstanding Excellence in Photojournalism” award, as well as an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Individual Achievement.” Christofer Dierdorff received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 1977.