Hey, Stockholm. Allow us a few short minutes to holler at that fine-looking subway system you have.

Last month, BBC News posted the following video to its YouTube account, featuring some of photographer Alexander Dragunov’s amazing work. Sadly, some of you may have missed that video, but it gets new life as it was recently posted anew over at Awesomer, where we found it for the first time:

And what we have here is a talented photographer poking us in the sides and reminding us to take time and care to appreciate our surroundings, even in the depths of some subway stations.

Dragunov explains his affinity for locales that would otherwise seem so common and ordinary: “I take photos of metro stations, because I love looking for symmetry for perspective in things with which I see: elevators, tunnels, long stations…”

However, it’s the technique and vantage point of his lens that really sells the well-trodden depths of a subway station. Or, as the photographer adds, “You can show a station the way you would never see with your own eyes. No one would believe that this station exists in real life.”

As Dragunov explains, those in Stockholm (Sweden) are some of the most excited about these images, stating that they have never seen their subway quite like this, thanking the photographer who, “opened their eyes.” 

It’s so easy to miss some of life’s more unlikely displays of beauty. My own personal travels took me to a Moscow subway, one adorned with various statutes worn from years of abuse as well as adoration, each adding personality to an already vibrant station.

Of course, metro users will come and go, barely acknowledging the grand spectacle that surrounds their daily commute. Not that their plight is any different from our own, driving, biking or riding to work with blinders on or our heads locked onto our smartphones. 

As the man with a seemingly magical camera explains, some never bother to look up or around at the splendor amid the drudgery that is a daily commute. When you see some of these images, you might now consider this kind of ignorance a sin.

Thanks to Dragunov, I’ll make sure to look around for something so familiar it may have gone unnoticed. 

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