Our latest issue features work by Edwin Koo on the cover. The documentary photographer has been to the Swat Valley of Pakistan and the remote villages of Yunnan. But for his most recent book, Transit, he aims his lens on the Singapore MRT at rush hour. Here, he tells us more.

How did you choose the stations you’d shoot at?

One criterion for the photographs was that they should reflect how human beings behave and react in a very cramped space. At these stations, the trains are jam-packed at peak hours so that I get a full door of passengers. One example is Jurong East.

Your collection of images from the 2011 general election, Notes from a Singapore Son, got all kinds of praise and criticism. This series, however, seems relatively apolitical. 

Can any work be apolitical? I think all works reflect the politics of the author, which can also change over time.

There were some concerns with this series about privacy, about staring at and recording people in public. 

Yes, we have too many CCTVs, and they make you seem naked whenever you go. What disturbs me more is the demonization of the recorded image. But the main difference is the authorship. With authorship, intention becomes the main point of contention. If the intention is good, the results will be good. If, for example, someone did what I did but instead targeted girls wearing short skirts, that would result in evil. So invasion of privacy, for me, is really not the main issue. 

You tried to get in touch with all the people in this series. How?

Social media: it is so powerful. Friends share the albums with friends and the photos perpetuate until someone is identified. This is what we call “six degrees of connection”—everyone is linked to everyone by six degrees and this is ever so obvious on social media. 

Check out the rest of Edwin’s work on Facebook or buy the book for $25 online.