37% of taxi drivers are college graduates, and 9.5% held professional jobs prior to entering this industry. This startling reality is just one of the reasons the partition is ‘imaginary’, and ought to be disregarded. They are vehicles filled with meaning, which videos equipped with scenic mosaic and tasteful idealism—readily capture. ‘Eye contact’ and voiceless machination are the preferred methods to compelling people to pause, contemplate and consider the taxi drivers, who are the eyes that greet New York’s outsiders.
They are the lights illuminating the labyrinthine networks and passageways, the mellow yellows. For this very reason, we must reacquaint ourselves with these muscular envoys toward freedom, which is exactly what Baradaran does in a mixed media format. He draws into question issues like immigration, racial profiling and language. Interactive pieces come full circle, when people react. With respect to Baradaran, this means designating a space for comments on his website, www.amirbaradaran.com, and by documenting viewers’ reaction, on tape.
Sometimes, it’s good to pause and wonder who it is that is taking us closer and closer to our supposed preferred destinations and whether those who are taking us are drawing closer or further from theirs…
YOURE EXACTLY THE TYPE OF PERSON, SVETTE– that they Loathe….
Elitist… self inflated… ‘everybody should respect and kiss my ass’ sort of attitude… GIrl
Just because you’re paying $7— doesn’t mean they should Suck up to you… Why don’t u try taking initiative and being nice to them for a change
GREAT ARTICLE– > Very well written :–)
Some taxi drivers are great, most suck.
I would love to look in one of those rearview mirrors when I get into the cab and see one of them smile and just say “hi.” They are in a service business, and if you want a damn tip, don’t treat me like garbage.
I over tip them anyway, mostly because they with hold giving my money back.
and please publish articles with some, just some wit
Good topic. It’s up to every new yorker to break the partition: actually talk to these fellows. Recent conversations include : the absurdity of baseball, possible time-traveling hijackers of the Hadron atom smasher in Switzerland, why hasn’t trader joe’s taken over middle america’s obesity-prone flatlands yet. That and the beauty of the leepa valley and Islamabad, the skinniness of models, and who would ever want to sit in the middle of broadway and 34th street to eat a sandwich to the sound and smell of midday traffic… That one beats us all for sure.