What time of day were the pictures taken? If it's early in the morning, that may be a reason so many look stunned. If they're going to work, maybe they're not enthusiastic about that. They may just not like the photographer to be in their way when they're trying to get off the train--which he may be.

I take the subway in the morning in DC and I'm always trying to read as much of my paper as I possibly can before getting to the office. And I virtually always find a long article I'm really interested in reading. So I'm probably pretty oblivious to most of the world--aside from trying not to get hit while crossing (at the crosswalk!).


I think you can read too much into these photos.