FAST @ UCLA: LA Metro, 2024

Each model embodies an exaggerated character in the narrative of LA's metro system, from morning rush and late-night rides, to its deserted platforms. This project juxtaposes the glamorous curation of high fashion (in the entertainment capital of the world) with the humanity and grit of urban transit, showcasing a cast of commuters — the headphone-insulated daydreamer, the party-goer turning heads, the DJ exuding nonchalance, and the aesthetic influencer.

The shoot plays with concepts of time and space while focusing on intimate moments of connection or isolation among strangers, specifically how people create personal space in such a public setting — through body language, technology, fashion choices — and the ironic paradox of LA's heavy car culture and gridlocked traffic against the swift efficiency of its emptier public transit. The attention to style serves to emphasis deeper themes too: the modesty some women adopt out of caution in the metro, the invisible boundaries between passengers, and the equalizing nature of public transport in a city known for stark socioeconomic divides and social extremes. The project also plays with the "metro manners" campaign to highlight the absurdities of urban etiquette. Each metro car becomes a microcosm, a liminal space between worlds hurtling through LA, where most people are constantly separated by their cars. Passengers are temporarily united, and for a hot minute everyone is ‘in it’ together.

Models: Amadu Tadesse, Leian Mulatre, Daniella Montoya, and Catherine Chen │Stylist: Krista Park, Em Davis, Dwayne Clay, and Jessy Youssef (Makeup)