2023-05-23 07:01:22
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Jerome Avenue IRT Line, New York, 1980. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Grand Central Station, New York Subway, 1983. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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72nd Street Station West Side, Nueva York, 1977. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Subway driver between carriages, New York, 1979. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Conversation on the A train, New York subway, 1983. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Schoolboys on the A-Train to Rockaway, New York Subway, 1978, Hell on Wheels, NY, 1977-1985. Willy Spiller
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Dangerous Journey, Franklin Street Station, New York, 1978. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Ballerinas following a rehearsal, New York subway, 1982. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Downtown Express 72nd St. Station, metro Nueva York, 1977. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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The open-air station at 180 St, Queens, New York, 1982. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Hello, New York subway, 1979. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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Lexington Avenue Line, IRT Division of the New York Subway, New York, 1979. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
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To the beat of the music, 96th Street Station, New York subway, 1981. Willy Spiller, Courtesy of Bildhalle
At the end of the seventies, the Swiss photojournalist Willy Spiller decided to move to New York to make one of his dreams come true. The New York subway immediately attracted his attention and was the scene of photographs of him which he put together in a book, ‘Hell on Wheels’, which has recently been republished.
This content was published on May 23, 2023
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, New York City was in state of declineexternal link. Known at the time as “the city of fearexternal link“, the metropolis inspired countless sci-fi dystopias, such as Escape from New Yorkexternal link (1981). This was the city that awaited Willy Spiller when he arrived. What was then the most dangerous subway in the world, meant for the photographer a discovery regarding the daily life of New Yorkers that he tried to document through his camera.
Crime was rampant, with 250 feloniesexternal link a week on the New York subway. The 2,300 police officers patrolling the network were never enough. However, it was also a city that stirred under the vibrations of art. underground (graffiti was fashionable and violently repressed) and music. It was a time when disco music, punkthe new wavehe post-punkhe funk and a fledgling scene hip-hop They lived together in the chaotic streets of the city.
At that time, New York was also the scene of cult films such as ‘Saturday Night Fever’, which launched John Travolta to fame, or ‘Taxi Driver’, by Martin Scorsese.
Spiller told SWI swissinfo.ch that his decision to leave Switzerland came at the right time. For him, the atmosphere of general decay was the great attraction of the megalopolis. He had everything he needed: equipment, a press photographer card from the Zurich newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (for which he worked as a reporter freelance) and an apartment on the 24th floor of Broadway Avenue with views of Manhattan. However, what inspired him the most was the view from below.
The age of the analog meter
At that time, Spiller recalls, nobody carried cell phones: people read books, newspapers and looked at each other on the subway. Walking around New York, the photos on the subway were accidental and appeared without a prior plan. The light of each subway and each station was always different, and he used the film that he had in the camera.
It was important to Spiller to show respect for his profession by always dressing smart in a suit and tie. The garb of the local New Yorkers, with their jeans, sneakers, and T-shirts, was not for him. In one of his exits he was stopped by a policeman in Harlem, who told him: “Sir, it’s not Christmas” and asked him what he was doing there. “You will be robbed wearing a suit and tie with all this camera equipment!” added the policeman.
He should have followed the policeman’s advice the night he decided to sleep on a park bench in Madison Square. As expected, he woke up with only his press credentials: his camera and his briefcase were missing.
Spiller rigorously documented his subway rides with the curiosity of a foreigner. His picture journal, ‘Hell on Wheels’, was first published in 1984. His career began to take off right following. He is today considered one of the best living Swiss photojournalists. In a sense, Spiller had a career similar to that of another giant of Swiss photography, Robert Frank, who also rose to fame following the publication (first in France and a year later in the United States) of his anthology book ‘The Americans ‘, in 1958.
The ‘Hell on Wheels’ book has been re-edited and redesigned and features an introduction by writer/editor Bill Shapiro.
Willy Spiller he graduated in photography from the Zurich School of Art and Design (ZHDK) in 1968. As a freelance photojournalist and photographer, he has spent 45 years working for major magazines. He has received various awardsexternal link for his reporting abroad and in Switzerland.
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Edited by Virginie Mangin and Eduardo Simantob
Adapted from English by Carla Wolff
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