Chris M. Forsyth: Uniqueness and Beauty of Metro Stations

Who Is Chris Forsyth?

     Chris M. Forsyth is a young photographer from Montreal who studied Professional Photography Program at Dawson College. His passion for photography happened at the same time when he discovered the beauty of the landscapes of Montreal. Since then, his devotion to photography only grew and first focused on one specific thing – the architecture and design of metro stations in Montreal.

The Metro Project

“The Metro Project” represents Forsyth’s first series of photos of the architecture of metro stations around the world.

Christ started his work in 2014. This was originally an academic project, called “Montreal Metro”, for which the photographer won International Photographer of the Year award in 2015. The project began as the research study – Chris got an assignment to explore a type of photography that interests him the most. Chris knew that it is the architecture photography and for his project decided to take photos of the metro system in Montreal. After the academic project finished, the photographer was inspired and felt the excitement about exploring a new metro space. Chris continued his work. First, he went to Munich in 2016. and spent five days exploring the network of 96 stations. His next stop was Berlin and then he continued to explore the others metro stations of the European cities.

The Power of Urban Space

Chris Forsyth is the photographer of the urban spaces. His work is impressive because of the photographer’s long and firmly observation of the space. He patiently looks at every corner of a metro station in order to connect with its identity and artistic style.

Each station has its own unique architect – no two stations are the same.

The end product of the long research are images that represent the uniqueness and beauty of the design. Chris’ idea was to show the attractiveness of the public space, often forgotten and overlooked. We use public transport every day, but we never look around us. We are always in a hurry or simply wait the next stop looking in our phones. Chris wanted “to encourage others to photograph and share how they see the stations through which they travel”.

Apart from the photographer’s fascination with the subway, there is also a series of photos “Neither Here, Nor There” that shows Ville Saint-Pierre, the Montreal neighborhood. Black and white images present the look of the city enclave after losing its economic independence. These photos are made in collaboration with  Kelsey Litwin of The Link magazine and published on January 2018.