NEW YORK, NY.- For years New York photographer Chris Maliwat has documented the New York City subway system and shared his images of everyday riders via his popular Instagram feed subwaygram. Its nearly 20k followers have come to enjoy the happenstance moments and sartorial street portraits created almost daily by Maliwat with his iPhone camera.

Last Fall, Daylight published Subwaygram, a photo book featuring some of Maliwat's greatest hits from his Instagram feed. These portraits were taken two years prior and two years after the first COVID-19 cases were detected in Manhattan, and the book layout and photograph sequencing are structured to reflect this.

This year, Sounds of NYC, a storytelling project that spotlights the unheralded voices of the NYC subway from riders to buskers, invited Subwaygram riders to have their personal stories recorded on the Sounds of NYC podcast. This partnership with Subwaygram, Sounds of NYC and Daylight has created a multi-media experience that celebrates photography, storytelling, and the diversity of the millions of New Yorkers who depend upon the subway as their daily lifeline.

On February 24 from 7-9pm (EST), Foley Gallery in downtown Manhattan will host a special Subwaygram event featuring a one night only pop-up exhibition of photographs from the book and Instagram feed, and a listening session featuring stories from Subwaygram riders featured in the newly launched Season 2. There will also be a panel discussion about the power of mixed-media storytelling (see bios of moderator and panelists below), and, as a bonus, event participants will be invited to record their own stories as part of a Season 2 'Post script.' The Subwaygram book will be available for purchase and signing throughout the evening.

In his essay in the accompanying book, Aaron L. Morrison, a New York City based journalist whose work focuses on race, criminal justice and grassroots social movements writes: "Yes, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 greatly altered our existence. But the subway has to be impervious in the ways that humans are not. For that reason, Chris Maliwat’s Subwaygram is prescient and a rare body of work. A historical record, a testimony of our values, a parable of inequality. Moments worth preserving and studying."

You can listen to all the Subwaygram episodes on Sounds of NYC on Spotify.

Chris Maliwat is a street-portrait photographer who captures surreptitious moments of everyday people on their journeys in the cities where they live. In a world where people consciously and often obsessively cultivate an image to portray, he takes candid portraits—often without being noticed by the subject—to show how people look when they are unposed and unmasked. Chris received an arts grant from the Stanford Arts & Technology Initiative and has studied photography at Stanford University and the International Center of Photography. His work has been featured in The Guardian, L'Oeil de la Photographie, Exibart Street, Huck and Lenscratch, among other publications.

Sara Becker is a screenwriter, producer, and author. A creative jack of all trades and Chicago native, she was raised with the sort of "can do attitude" that has led her to spearhead many initiatives, including Sounds of NYC. The project's next season will take place in San Francisco with Sounds of SF. Sara's new book of satire, "An Only Nut" is being published by Night-time Stories for Adults and she is developing a TV series based on her animated film, "Snowbirds." She received her bachelor's degree at The Academy of Art in San Francisco and spent ten years on the west coast before making her way to New York CIty. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Danielle Piendak has overseen Development Operations, Research and Membership at The 92nd Street Y, New York since 2018. In her role she engages with donors and encourages support of 92NY through their Friends of 92NY membership program that provides benefits and perks to patrons engaging with 92NY's vast programming. Prior to her time at 92NY, Danielle was living and working in New Haven, Connecticut overseeing development operations at a Planned Parenthood affiliate. She has a BA in Philosophy and a MBA from NYU. When not at 92NY, Danielle can be found out enjoying a glass of red wine or running through Prospect Park.