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On the Night Bus: Beautiful but unsettling portraits of commuters on buses during winter

In his series On the Night Bus, photographer Nick Turpin’s portraits have an eerie and painterly quality.

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All images courtesy of Hoxton Mini Press and copyright of Nick Turpin

All images courtesy of Hoxton Mini Press and copyright of Nick Turpin

The steamed windows of the buses create an optical illusion; softening and blurring the faces of those behind the glass, raising questions about voyeurism and public and private space.

Shot over two winters at the Elephant and Castle roundabout in London, and taken with a telephoto lens, the images reveal an intimate glimpse into the life of the city traveller. Some passengers interact with each other, some sleep, some are moody and pensive, others lost in faraway thoughts. All are strangely silent behind the cold wintery glass that, alongside the artificial light in the bus, renders these everyday scenes into something akin to classical paintings.

At the age of twenty, Nick became the youngest full-time photographer on a national UK broadsheet newspaper, spending seven years shooting news, features and portraits for The Independent. A self-proclaimed ‘Street Photography Evangelist’, he has spread his enthusiasm for this form of photography through books, exhibitions, workshops, TV, radio and lecturing. In 2000, he founded the international collective iN-PUBLiC, which has played a significant role in the modern resurgence of street photography.

Now you can purchase a beautiful new book of the series courtesy of the independent publisher, Hoxton Mini Press. Entitled On the Night Bus, it's priced at £16.95 and can be ordered online. To find out more about Nick, visit nickturpin.com.

Blurred figures of bus passengers seen through a steamed window, their faces softened by condensation and artificial light in hues of blue, orange and yellow
Blurred figures visible through a steamed bus window at night, with neon red sketches of bicycles and mechanical elements overlaid on the glass
Silhouetted profile of a man visible through a steamed bus window, his face softened and blurred by condensation and artificial light
A softly blurred figure in a blue top visible through a steamed bus window, their face obscured by condensation and the glass surface
Figure shrouded in shadow wearing a black hat, viewed through a steamed bus window with blurred greenish tones from Nick Turpin's On the Night Bus series
Person on night bus viewed through steamed window, their face softened and blurred by condensation and artificial light
Man in formal attire seen through a steamed bus window with vibrant yellow, red and blue colours reflected behind the glass
Silhouetted figures and faces visible through a steamed bus window, softly blurred by condensation with a teal-tinted sky behind the glass
Elderly man with white hair and beard visible through a steamed bus window, his face softened and blurred by condensation and the glass
Child pressing hand against steamed bus window, with blurred face and colourful clothing visible through condensation and reflections
Steamed bus window with blurred figures of passengers illuminated by orange interior lights, with raindrops on the glass and dark exterior, book cover for Nick Turpin's On the Night Bus published by Hoxton Mini Press
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