sleepy urbanite photos by yvonne doll

look at these awesome nap snaps of folks snoozing on the local trains, from chicago artist and musician yvonne doll. to achieve her goals of creating impromptu art and capturing beauty in everyday moments, she sneaks discreet photos with her cell phone camera of people sleeping on the public transportation in the city and has compiled them all on her website, the sleepy urbanite. it’s a tranquil, poetic and peaceful collection of portraits with a ubiquitous theme - the brief and luxurious, drowsy, torpid moments of blissful slumber.

since being in close proximity to each subject is a requirement, i admire how she can connect with her subject, even as a sort of clandestine “undercover” artist. i enjoy the harsh artificial overhead light and natural light combinations, which give a very authentic taste of what it’s like to ride around the windy city on the el (frequently jarring and noisy but oh-so-quiet in these portraits). i also find it amusing that in many of these photos, other folks surrounding the sleeper succumb to the sweet idea of catching a quick cat nap too. i wonder if the ones that choose to stay awake are a little jealous.

see all the photos on yvonne’s website, and read her blog too, for one person’s unique glimpse of the residents of chicago.

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transportation thursday: train

n.b. this is a week long series on methods of transport and how we feel about them, created by a dear friend.

i enjoy elevated, commuter, tgv and other trains for the most part, except maybe when someone unsavory is sitting too close to me. the first long train trip i took was to california, when i was a kid, for summer vacation. i remember we had a sleeper car and the bathroom was tiny and the porter was very helpful. and you never think that you’re going so fast on the high speed trains in europe until another train whizzes by you on the neighboring track, and you nearly get whiplash trying to follow it. good times. i always think of it as an adventure, even on the brown line here in the city.

florence transit map necklace, from le photique’s etsy shop

vintage acme thunderer whistle for sale on ebay

give leather train case at fred segal beauty

bridget davies embroidered silk passport case at her dawanda shop

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