Hiroyuki Suzuki Reveals the Beauty of New York’s East Side Access in The Next Level

Photographs Inspiring Beauty within the Bleak Realities of Construction

Written by Ingrid Lee

Not all stories are pretty. That’s the premise that Japanese photographer Hiroyuki Suzuki had when he set out to tell the story of an extension to the New York transit system through “The Next Level: East Side Access Photographs.” In addition to this exhibition, Suzuki describes the photographs in his book, The Next Level.

Suzuki is known for photographs that expose the beauty found within construction sites. His project on New York’s East Side Access began in 2011. He continued shooting Grand Central, a station on the line, for three years. Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy said, “Mr. Suzuki has ennobled us all by revealing that Grand Central’s architectural beauty can be found even amidst the shadows 18 stories underground.”

Suzuki also received recognition from Mark J. Davidson, the former Minister Counselor for Public Affairs for the U.S. Embassy in Japan. Suzuki’s photos, Davidson said, “give us a new appreciation for the glory of the mundane and the people who toil in hidden places to make our communities and lives better.”

In addition to the East Side Access photos, Suzuki is known for photographing construction sites around the world. Suzuki has documented natural gas production facilities in Qatar, the Dubai metro, skyscrapers in Shanghai, the International Airport, Gate Bridge and Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo and the recent renovation of the Tokyo Train Station.

What led Suzuki to capture the life of the East Side Access? While many appreciate Suzuki’s ability to capture the hidden meaning behind the underground construction site, he says his inspiration came from “his gratitude for Operation Tomodachi, the relief effort led by the United States Armed Forces after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.”

The unique quality that makes Suzuki’s photos stand out, aside from his play on black-and-white coloring with lights and shadows, is his ability to create emotion and reveal underlying meanings through his photos. Most of Suzuki’s photos of the East Side Access include workers and shots of the construction sites that evoke feelings from viewers. Davidson acknowledges Suzuki’s play on words in The Next Level, describing Suzuki’s photographs as “a Whitmanesque paean to the din and energy of the city and its people, always changing, always progressing, always seeking the next level.”

The exhibition was shown at New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex in Grand Central Station in 2013, from July 23 to October 27. At the time, construction had just barely started on the East Side Access. By photographing how the East Side Access came to be, Davidson notes that Suzuki “chronicles the brutal majesty of the encounter of man, machine, and mud.”

The infrastructure project, which was more than half a century in the making, finally opened with the first ceremonial train on January 25, 2023.

The complete article can be found in Issue #282 of the Tokyo Journal.