Muni Diaries

Photographer Kian Lavi was struggling to keep up with his hobby because, like most of us, his day job always seemed to get in the way. But people like you—Muni riders each with a story of your own—inspired him to start a 100-day photo project that has captured the best of what we love about life on the bus. Lavi has been photographing one rider a day on his commute, and he is just a little more than halfway done. Along the way, he says, “I’ve gotten job offers, heard fantastic stories, and have fallen in love with every person I get to talk to.”

And of course, getting to know your fellow riders gave Lavi a Muni story or two of his own. We chatted with him last week:

What made you decide to do this 100-day project?

I heard about The Great Discontent’s #The100DayProject after reading an article about Michael Bierut, and it made me realize how out of touch with my own photography I had become. I do street photography in my downtime, but without downtime, I’d all but stopped. The project’s prompt to make something, however small, for 100 days caught my eye and has held my attention for over 50 days now. I love people, so it was natural for me to focus my project on the people around me every day.

Day 46: Ross “I’m originally from Texas. Houston and Austin. I moved out here in ’99 and I’m scared to go back. I’m scared to go back and see how much it’s changed.” #The100DayProject #100daysofbus

A photo posted by Kian Lavi (@kianlavi) on Jun 1, 2015 at 5:52pm PDT

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