Surrounded Alone: Photo Series Captures the Lonely Existence of the Commuter

The commuter life is neither epic nor exciting. There are no incredible mountain ranges, no ice caves, no perfectly reflected orchards, and the view out of the car or train window, day in and day out, never changes much.

It’s, “a life based on very early morning wake-ups and going to bed too late—constantly tired and in a hurry. Surrounded by people but basically always alone.”

That’s how Marco Introini describes it. Marco: a photographer who, 2 years ago, subjected himself to a 5 hour commute to get to and from work in order to move his new family farther from the city.

Before this commute, Marco was a self-described photographer of everything. “I thought that I should take pictures of what I saw and interested me, expressing my feelings,” he told us. “This leaded to somewhat good pictures, but, if taken as a whole work, was a bit confusing.”

It wasn’t until he began spending 5 hours between the car and train on the way to and from work that he discovered his passion project.

“I began taking my little Fuji (first an XE-1 and now an XT-10) everywhere with me; it was basically the only way to take pictures!” he told us. “And then, shot after shot, I realized that I liked it. I liked to give voice to the commuter life.”

The resulting series, titled simply “Commuter’s Life,” is an ode to those hours spent on the road and rails. It’s become both a way for him to hone his skills in one specific area, as well as an expression of the most pressing thing on his mind these days: those hours.

“It’s a difficult task to express,” he admits. But shot by shot he continues to get better. To find new ways to capture the same stations. To notice the small moments that make up a commuter’s life and immortalize them in pixels.

Most of his images are black and white, but the series has a color component as well. Here’s a look at our favorite shots from both:

To see more from Marco, be sure to give him a follow on 500px, visit his website, or drop him a line on Twitter. He’s got some time to kill every day… he might just respond.