All Photo Lightbox Series

Initiated in 2001, the Metro Art Photo Lightbox Series provides photography exhibits that engage a broad range of Metro riders on their daily commute. Lightbox displays are comprised of photographic transparencies, sequentially arranged on internally illuminated boxes, and appear at the following Metro stations – 7th St/Metro Center Station, Hollywood/Highland Station, Universal City/Studio City Station, Vermont/Beverly Station, and Wilshire/Normandie Station.

Jim McHugh, High Hopes

High Hopes

Artist(s):

Project Description Inspired by the disappearing building landmarks of his childhood, the artist used the bygone medium of Polaroid film to make architectural portraits of a certain category of Los Angeles celebrities. Artist Statement “Many of these buildings have appeared in more films than the biggest movie stars. I wanted to make for my daughter pictures of the Los Angeles I remembered growing up. The pictures also hold memories of my mother, what she saw as a young girl with big dreams stepping off that train in Union Station in 1941, from a small town in Minnesota. A mythical city of glamour and Raymond Chandler, the trumpet of Chet Baker, the mood, the light and darkness of Los Angeles.” About the Artist JIM McHUGH has exhibited nationally and internationally, with solo exhibitions at New York’s Farmani Gallery, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the James Corcoran Gallery and Timothy Yarger Fine Art in Los Angeles. His photography has garnered many awards and is included in prominent collections such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York, …

Sam Comen, En Route

En Route

Artist(s):

Project Description Travelers, encountered by the artist at Union Station, are captured in hyper real lighting and transformed into everyday icons in a celebration of mundane moments that would otherwise be overlooked. Artist Statement “I’m interested in exploring the character of historically significant sites by shooting a series of environmental portraits of the people who live and work in those locales. Union Station is the beating heart of the vast urban physiology of Los Angeles and its commuters and travelers are a microcosm of the surrounding city and county.” About the Artist SAM COMEN is a documentary photographer and has received Forward Thinking Museum and Santa Fe Center for Photography Project Launch grants and a Communication Arts Photography Annual Award. He has exhibited his work nationally in solo and group shows. Display year: 2014 – 2015 Locations: No longer on display

Stephen Galloway, Coming and Going

Coming and Going

Artist(s):

Project Description Coming and Going symbolizes contemporary society’s relationship with nature, which has become that which exists between human-made elements; columns, buildings, roads, and cities. How do we recognize the disjunction in the artist’s image? How do we reassemble them as we see it? Artist Statement “I wanted to juxtapose high resolution photographed imagery of nature with the long traversed underground corridor. The work comes out of my on-going focus of nature and contemporary urban society” About the Artist STEPHEN GALLOWAY has exhibited his photography extensively throughout the west coast and has been published in Artweek, San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News. Galloway received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Photography from San Francisco State University. Display year: 2009 – 2010 Locations: No longer on display

Diane Meyer, Born on a Train Lightbox

Born on a Train

Artist(s):

During a train ride from Oakland to New York, the artist utilized the time to create artistic installations that reinterpreted the interior space of a sleeper car, as well as the relationship between the train and the passing landscape.

Rafael Cardenas, Anonymous

Anonymous

Artist(s):

Project Description For Cardenas, traversing by bus or train in a city known for its cars and freeways is a study of Los Angeles’s diverse cultures, people and neighborhoods. To create the photographs in Anonymous (2016), the artist roamed the city in all modes of transportation: bike, bus, train, car and foot. Inspired by the nuances of daily life, he discreetly captured distinct moments as they unfolded in front of him. These artworks are part of the Metro Art Photo Lightbox Series, displayed in select stations between 2017 and 2020. Artist Statement “These images tell stories that are often overlooked as we move anonymously through the streets of Los Angeles. They speak to the smells, sites and sounds of the city, and the many individuals encountered as they head to work, play and home.” About the Artist RAFAEL CARDENAS (b. 1971, Jalisco, Mexico) is a self-taught photographer who chronicles the personalities and times in which we are living through intimate portraits and street scenes, primarily capturing the gamut of life in East Los Angeles where he …

Todd Hido, A Road Divided

A Road Divided

Artist(s):

Project Description Taken by the artist while on the road, these images conjure a passenger’s associations to another time, or place, during their travels. Artist Statement “My concept for this project is a simple one: To bring the beauty of and atmosphere of nature to the urban spaces people commute in. My images have a quality that I often hear transports viewers to another time or place in their lives. The images I have selected are all images that were made while traveling or on the road. They mirror the commuter’s journey but clearly in a more reflective way.” About the Artist TODD HIDO is a San Francisco-based artist whose work has been featured in Artforum, The New York Times Magazine, Metropolis, I-D, and Vanity Fair. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Display year: 2010 – 2013 Locations: Universal City/Studio City Station No longer on display