It’s easy to feel lost and alone in a crowded place - especially in a city like New York, where the subway is often a symbol of isolation despite the constant company.
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But George Ferrandi, a Brooklyn based photographer believes in the kindness of strangers that can explicitly be found in such crowded places.
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
“It has the potential for generous behavior,” she told Huffpost.
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As strangers, we often carry insecurities that make us shield our true selves, wary of judgment, discomfort, or rejection. On the subway, that guardedness becomes physical - people avoid eye contact, flinch at accidental touches, and draw mental borders around themselves.
But George wanted to explore what it would take to gently break through those barriers. She began a quiet social experiment in vulnerability, one that she would later title It Felt Like I Knew You.
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
Her idea was simple yet profound: What happens if, instead of recoiling, we soften toward the person next to us?
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“It happened one day when an elderly man dozed off on the subway and I, without moving any inch closer to him, simply relaxed my body and convinced myself that I already knew and loved him.
In his sleep, he then reached out to my hand in a non-sexual way, more like a gentle human contact way. After he was awake, he looked apologetic and started explaining what was going on in his life. ”
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
Although in the end he got off the train, George was reassured that she offered the comfort he needed, just by softening the space between them. She then took this moment to the next level by creating this project on the subway.
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George’s subway experiment gently challenges us to believe in kindness towards strangers. Because maybe, someone else on that train needs comfort too - and we have more to give than we think.
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| Shared with permission - Angela Gilland-Spiegel |
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| George Ferrandi’s Tedx Talks on I Felt Like I Knew You |
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