WRITTEN IN THEIR FACES. personal project
by Photographer Klaus Einwanger in New York, London & Tokyo
Behind the Scenes of the Project "TAXI DRIVERS - Written in Their Faces"
Lyrics:
"It is a real privilege to be a photographer,
to take other people on a journey valuable and important to you.
Personal projects are always insightful development steps. They broaden horizons, offer many more possibilities and are extremely fun.
For my personal project on the situation of professional taxi drivers and the influence of distributive business models, I photographed in London, New York and Tokyo.
Many thanks to Leica for the great support."
Many thanks to Leica for the great support."
TAXI DRIVERS
WRITTEN IN THEIR FACES
“A face is something we all have. We only see it as a reflection in a mirror, window or water. We never see our own faces as others do and therefore we don't read what is written in our faces.” - Klaus Einwanger
Unfortunately, profound changes, due to the introduction of rideshare services made possible by greed and corruption, resulted in what might be described as an unstoppable decline in traditional taxi services.
What are the results of these changes?
The growth of the internet ride-share services Uber and Lyft caused disruption and havoc in the ranks of the traditional taxis in London and New York.
These disruptive business models, coupled with significant changes in both lifestyle and the value systems in our society, are the main factors behind the decline of established taxi services. Undeniably the current global economic and political situations also contributes to the decline and woes of a 300-year-old profession.
In New York and London Klaus chronicles the struggles of individual taxi drivers, their reality of survival and how the London drivers fought back to win their fight. Tokyo, however, is a different story, where the sun never rose on rideshare services. This was largely due to the city’s political will to protect what considered to be an essential part of Tokyo’s economic and social infrastructure.
It is up to us to question what is worth preserving and to act accordingly.
NEW YORK
Cab Driver: Ahmad Bakhsh Awan, NY
Cab Driver: Bhagwant Singh, NY
Cab Driver: Mouhamadou Aliyu, NY
Cab Drivers: Mouhamadou Aliyu & Golam Talukdar, NY
Cab Driver: Golam Talukdar, NY
Cab Drivers: Lati, Ilya & Mitsingh, NY
Cab Driver: Muhammad Awan, NY
LONDON
Taxi Driver: Leanne Barnes, London
Taxi Driver: Danny Gilbey, London
Taxi Driver: Lee Maynard, London
Taxi Driver: Aydin Ibrahim, London
Taxi Driver: John Carter, London
TOKIO
Taxi Driver: Furukawa, Tokio
Taxi Driver: Naito Toshinori, Tokio
Taxi Driver: Kyoko Ohtaki, Tokio
Taxi Driver: Takeshi Mori, Tokio
Taxi Driver: Furukawa, Tokio
Taxi Driver: Yasuhiro Hiraki, Tokio
“As a photographer, a face speaks volumes, it tells the camera, the observer about the subject’s life and fate. It leaves marks of lost battles, unfair moments, happiness and joy, the good days and not so good days that occur to all of us. Each of life’s moments leaves its history on our faces.” - Klaus Einwanger
