For Hannah La Follette, Hands Are The Most Interesting Part Of The Subway
How the Brooklyn-based photographer transformed her morning commute by intimately documenting New York’s most beloved shared space with Subway Hands.
By Justine Deutsch
Photos by Lauren Daccache
Published
Some say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, but Hannah La Follette set her sights elsewhere. “I have all my loved ones' hands memorized because that's the way my brain works,” Hannah confessed on a warm Friday evening over Moroccan mint tea. We met last month, nestled in a small classroom at the International Center for Photography. I shamelessly enrolled in Hannah’s course on iPhone Street Photography the moment I discovered she was teaching it, and I wasn’t the only one.
While most students had some level of photography experience, we all shared a fascination with Hannah and her quintessential New York series @subwayhands. As the name would suggest, the account turns the hands of unsuspecting subway riders into a work of art.
The course encouraged students to practice “the art of patiently observing the lives of strangers.” These patient observations have amassed over 400K followers on Instagram and appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Nation, Interview Magazine, and elsewhere. Most recently, she has been documenting the hands of protesters demonstrating across New York City in support of Palestine. Surrounded by the brisk autumn air, the photographer met with me to discuss transportation’s greatest equalizer, finding familiarity in new places and the story behind her love of hands.