Strangers on a Train, 1978

Helen Levitt, 1978 Public transport can make for strange bedfellows, or more accurately, strange seatmates. New York photographer Helen Levitt did a whole series focused on these accidental meetings. Perhaps she was following in the footsteps of her mentor, Walker Evans, who was famous for his secret subway photos. Why this pair? Perhaps it was for a study in contrasts—tall and short, thin and thicker, young and old. However, she might have been struck by the similarities. She found two very different people who shared a love of patterned textiles. There’s a contrast here, too, between the more free-form design and the rigidly geometric. Still, an affinity remains. Although these two were thrown together by accident, I like to think that they could have had a lively discussion about clothes.