Mobile pictures

Photo provided to Shanghai Star

Subway commuters staring at their cell phones are a common sight. One Shanghai photographer has captured this slice of modern life and turned it into a book. Wu Ni reports.

With an average daily passenger flow of nearly 7 million people, the hustling and bustling Shanghai subway can offer many great opportunities for photographers. Zhu Gang, a Shanghai photographer, has focused his lens on the large number of "Phubbing," or phone snubbing metro riders.

Over the past four years, Zhu has traveled all 14 metro lines to snap riders who were addicted to their mobile devices. And out of the thousands of snapshots, he selected about 150 for his documentary photography book Metro Phone, published in June, the fi rst of its kind in the nation.

"As a professional photographer I was at first too proud to take photos with a phone. However gradually, I realized it has its merits," he says. He has snapped the photos with HTC, Samsung and Motorola, but never an iPhone.

"I was attracted to the growing number of metro riders who have their eyes glued to smartphones," he says. He would sometimes walk through the whole subway car to fi nd interesting scenes.

The book is divided into 14 chapters, representing the 14 metro lines. Because every line runs through different regions, people on different lines vary in their dress, looks, tones and conversation topics. Zhu enjoyed observing the difference and capturing them.

"In the crowded car, the smartphone is the best playmate of riders during the long boring journey. People are so devoted to the phone. The fleeting scene can not be replayed even with the best performance, thus it is very real, special and interesting."

He says in some way he is recording history, because it is possible that the scene will disappear when new transportation or communications devises emerge in the future.

"When I started the job in 2010, smartphones were not common. No one knows what kind of surprising scene technology will bring to us."