Willy Spiller’s ‘Hell on Wheels’: Documenting New York’s Subway in the Late 1970s

In the late 1970s, Swiss photojournalist Willy Spiller moved to New York. His fascination with the sprawling city’s subway gave rise to a book, Hell on Wheels (Hell on Wheels), which has just been reissued.

This content was published on May 20, 2023

May 20, 2023

Helen James

Between the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, New York was a dangerous city, in complete disrepair. Nicknamed the “city of fear”, the metropolis inspired many science fiction dystopias at the time, such as New York 1997External linkby John Carpenter, in 1981. It was in this city that Willy Spiller embarked on a journey of discovery, documenting through photography the daily life of New Yorkers in what was then the most dangerous subway system in the world. .

Crime is rampant, with 250 serious crimes a week on the New York City subway. The 2,300 police officers in charge of its security are never numerous enough. But it is also a city that moves, under the vibrations of underground art (graffiti are all the rage and are violently repressed) and to the rhythms of all types of music. This is the time when disco, punk, new wave, funk and a budding hip-hop scene coexist in the chaos of the streets.

The city also serves as a backdrop for films that have become cult, such as Saturday night fever et Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese, which will make John Travolta and Robert de Niro world stars.

Willy Spiller told swissinfo that he left Switzerland at the right time. For him, the atmosphere of general decrepitude gave all its attraction to the megalopolis. He had everything he needed: the equipment, press photographer accreditation from the Zurich daily The New Zurich Times (for which he worked as a freelance reporter) and an apartment on Broadway, on the 24th floor, with a view of Manhattan. But what inspired him the most was the view from below.

The era of the analog underground

At the time, the photographer recalls, no one had a cell phone. In the metro, people were reading books or newspapers and looking at each other. He was walking around New York without a map – the photos on the subway were incidental. In each train, in each station, the light was different.

Willy Spiller believed in showing respect for his profession by dressing smartly in a suit and tie. The outfit of New Yorkers, with their jeans, sneakers and t-shirts, did not suit him. Once he was stopped by a policeman in Harlem, who said to him, “Sir, it’s not Christmas” and asked him what he was doing there. “Dressed as you are and with your photo equipment, you will be robbed,” the agent warned.

He should have taken her advice the night he decided to sleep on a bench in Madison Square. Quite logically, he woke up with his only press card, his camera and his wallet having disappeared.

Willy Spiller meticulously photographed scenes in the subway, with the curiosity of a stranger. His diary in pictures, Hell on Wheels, was first published in 1984. Then his career took off. Today, he is considered one of the greatest living Swiss photojournalists. In a way, Spiller had a similar journey to that of another giant of Swiss photography, Robert Frank, who also rose to stardom with the publication (first in France, then a year later in the United States) of an anthology book, The Americansin 1958.