In this image of muted
contrasts, the passengers appear to float behind the glass surface of the
carriage, like silhouettes held within an intermediate space. The composition
plays on a layering of planes and reflections that blurs the boundaries between
interior and exterior, presence and disappearance. The faces emerge partially
from the darkness, as though the gaze were never quite able to grasp them
entirely. By inverting the traditional principle of silkscreen, Vhils brings
forth the image not through addition but through removal of matter. The acid
progressively lightens the dark areas of the paper and produces an almost
spectral texture, in which the figures seem revealed from within the surface
itself. This visual instability extends the subject of the work: that of
existences which cross paths fleetingly in urban flows without leaving any
trace other than a passing impression. The deep tonalities, close to smoked
brown and diluted black, reinforce this sensation of suspension and silent
distance.