Orenstein gives urban dwellers new ways of enjoying a city abroad by encouraging them to walk the same street twice, because there is always a chance they’ll see something interesting. Cities are no longer a bore, where every train ride feels like routine, but rather a chance to get lost in urban spaces like no traveler has done before. Urban fatigue of graffiti wired fences, and train stations have been captured in a new type of documentation in photography for some time now, giving the familiar spaces a fresh look. Stranger on a Train by Paul Orenstein takes us to Vienna back in 2024.
City natives and urban dwellers will always appreciate the fresh perspective of a foreigner. As for a local, not much is absorbed, especially when one becomes accustomed to such things as the line at a coffee shop, or passing the time on the ride to work to decipher tags on the walls or identify the themes of graffiti tattooed on out-of-service trains. Nothing like a tourist, especially a photographer, can change their perspective on how they can explore their own city spaces.
Installation view of Paul Orenstein, Stranger on a Train “Gang of 60”
The exhibition presents 74 colour photographs taken in Vienna, in both in printed forms, including large formats, and on digital monitors mounted on the other side of the gallery hall. The pieces depict Vienna’s modern and historical elements, sometimes side by side, in unexpected parts of the city. One can’t help but wonder what stories were told under the bridge in a partly renovated neighborhood.
Even the colours at the entrance of this exhibition match the colours of vibrantly painted residential buildings and tagged warehouses. Orenstein describes how quickly the excitement shifts when visiting a new country without knowing the language yet somehow managing to move around by looking at street signs, stores, office buildings, etc. The shapes and colours are so different from what you used to it at home, that you feel like an alien on another planet. Even the electrical wires seem to create a picture if you squint your eyes.
Installation view of Paul Orenstein, Stranger on a Train
Some of the prints displayed in Stranger on the Train might be shocking to see yet not surprising how much graffiti and tags are covering the surfaces, showing the rapid changes with so much construction going on even in a historic European city like Vienna. This fact reminds us that we must pay more attention to our own space, that may change in a blink, so, we might never see the same city again.
Installation view of Paul Orenstein, Stranger on a Train with Sot T, cacophony (left) and Sot T, red E (right)
Text and photo: Polyna Alexseev
All images are installation views of Paul Orenstein: Stranger on a Train.
*Exhibition information: Paul Orenstein: Stranger on a Train, May 18 – June 30, 2025, The Hall, 166 Clinton St, rear building, Toronto. Opening hours: Sat – Sun 11am – 6pm. Part of CONTACT Photography Festival.