A Sewer Runs Through It

For years Plum joked with her friends that she was going to make a coffee table book of all the disgusting hilarity of the MTA system and call it A Sewer Runs Through It. About a year into living in NYC, she started taking pictures of just how vile the subway system is. This was a joke that turned into a hobby that became an obsession. The need to expose the truth about how everyday New Yorkers must live became her passion; showing in full color, how little choice most of us have and what we are forced to accept as acceptable became a driving force in her life. So, as she traveled around, she started capturing what she was experiencing. Taking different trains to different stations to see how it was in different types of neighborhoods, but it was the same everywhere...filthy.

The images intentionally exclude as many people as possible, as humans consume too much energy in a picture and the point was to highlight the darkness. The scenes are not staged, everything is shown just as it was found. She would wait in the blazing heat or freezing cold until enough passengers had boarded the trains, leaving the raw realities of the tracks and platforms to tell the daunting truth.

The MTA is the literal underbelly of NYC and it is in desperate need of repair. Although, this started as a joke, if it draws attention to how New Yorkers live, while showcasing a failing infrastructure that is so critical for millions of people, all the work will be worthwhile. New York is not what you see it on TV, that is the glossy side, but like anything, there are two sides to this big apple. Please watch your step and enjoy the ride.

About the Author

After growing up all over the US and continuing that nomadic pattern as an adult, Plum decided it was time she ventured out to New York City. She landed a rent stabilized apartment in Washington Heights and started exploring what it was like to really live like a New Yorker. She also found time to bake pies and cookies for her friends, in the world’s smallest kitchen (it literally had 6＂ of total counter space). Throughout her time there, she memorialized NYC in pictures; many of which you can see around her Southern California home.

This work focuses on the horrifically laughable conditions within the MTA subway system. The system is shockingly slow, has constant service disruptions, and is the only method of transportation for millions of people. She knew this needed to be shared with the world; to offer a counterpoint of reality to Hollywood’s portrayal of NYC.

Although she misses Broadway shows, Central Park, and getting a ＄2 egg and cheese on a roll at the corner deli, she knew it was time to move onto new adventures. So after seven years, she headed west, where she is still taking pictures and baking pies. Follow her @picturesandpies