The theatre metaphor is a conscious visual construction of the photographer, yet the subjects are "real". In this sense, Metropolis has certain affinities with Walker Evans' famous Subway Portraits from the early thirties. But while Evans used a hidden camera at short distance to capture the passengers sitting opposite him in the carriage, Villaplana draws on an "invisible" camera that he holds in his hands to portray the commuters on the other side of the platform, the gallery says on its website. What the pictures have in common is not only that they show the (lack of) interaction between commuters that just happen to be at the same place, at the same time: They also share a deep reflection on documentary photography as a genre that exposes a (human) object to the pointed gaze of the photographer and his weapon, the camera.
