Still Lives of Workers in Motion

“Archive in Motion: The ATU Workers of Metro Transit”, a photography exhibition, is on display at the East Side Freedom Library, in St. Paul, Minn. featuring the photographs of Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp of the workers of Metro Transit. The exhibit features film photographs of various transit workers, represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, honoring the essential work they do and the importance of public transit in bringing people together in a shared public space. 

The exhibition includes portraits of the workers while on the job, as well as still-life photographs of objects bus operators carry with them, photos and scans of archival finds and everyday transit ephemera, and the architecture that makes up the transit system—from the mundane yet necessary infrastructure, to the wooded landscapes of the Twin Cities urban parks. 

Leslie Grant, a photographer and professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Jeffrey Skemp, photographer and poet, began the project on Metro Transit by contacting ATU Local 1005. The union then invited the photographers to join a meeting and present the project to the union members. After presenting on the project, several Metro Transit workers reached out that they would be interested in being photographed. Todd Eddy, Kira Ross, and David Stiggers were three of those workers. 

Kira Ross is the first black woman mechanic working for Metro Transit. Grant photographed Ross while working on the job, following her as she worked on engines and motors at the Haywood Garage in Minneapolis. In a panel at the East Side Freedom Library, Grant shared that photographing people while they work is what interests her most. “It was interesting, because the dynamic of the other workers was kind of circling around us like they were sort of joking with her, not really making fun, but it was sort of like, ‘Oh, you know, you’re so important getting your picture taken.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, she’s very important. Don’t forget,’ she said. 

The dignity of work is a central theme of the exhibit, and it was important for the photographers to create portraits that the workers were proud of and represented their skill, labor, and dedication. When initially meeting with Ross about the project, Grant shared that “Kira was telling me how she really wanted her picture on the wall, like all the other mechanics that were male and generally white. That really stood out. This is important. I really want to make that picture for her.” 

Todd Eddy, a bus operator for 20 years, is currently on rotation driving the 6, the A Line, and the 7, among other routes. At the exhibition’s panel discussion, Eddy shared the importance of the role of transit in communities and his observations of the Twin Cities’ transit system: “I’m wishing that in Minneapolis and St. Paul that it was less of a class-based system. Here, it really feels like the people that can afford cars are in their car, and people that can’t afford cars are on the bus. And that feels really unfortunate to me.” 

When asked about the importance of public transit, Grant explained how public transit heightens the sensation of being and participating in a shared public life. “It makes you think more about who you want to be in the world when you are in public in that way. In cars, you get angry at each other and there’s such a distance that separates our humanity from each other, and the bus is something that just forces you with everybody so intimately.” 

“Not everybody can afford a car,” Eddy added. “Not everybody wants to drive a car. There are times when I pick someone up and I can tell that they urgently need a ride, maybe to work, the hospital, the clinic, or home from school. And what happens if we weren’t providing that for them? With the climate we have here?” 

Eddy shares, “It’s an honor. Some days are more of an honor than others, but I’m providing an essential service.” 

The following photographs are a selection from the project “Archive in Motion: The ATU Workers of Metro Transit” by Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. The exhibit is available at the East Side Freedom Library until November 9, when there will be a closing reception with the artists.

David Stiggers, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, pictured working in his office in Minneapolis. Stiggers became president of the local in 2024 shortly after the union agreed to a contract with the Metropolitan Council. 

Photograph by Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2024. Inkjet print. 

Kira Ross is a member of ATU Local 1005 and Metro Transit’s first black woman mechanic. Ross is photographed while working at the Haywood Garage in Minneapolis, posing next to a tool box. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2023. Gelatin silver print. 

The photographers visited the ATU Local 1005 archive where they found a collection of pins fixed to a piece of denim with dozens of historic union pins. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2024. Inkjet print. 

The exhibit also included photographs of the structures that make up public transit and that are integral to workers’ experiences. Pictured above is a bathroom facility for workers in Southdale Center in Edina, Minn.  

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2022. Inkjet print.

Todd Eddy, a 20-year veteran bus driver and ATU Local 1005 union member, poses for a photograph at a beloved rest stop off the 7 bus, surrounded by the forest of Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2022. Inkjet print. 

Another component of the project included photographing the objects one bus operator, Todd Eddy, carries on him while on the job. Pictured is a still-life of one of those objects, a lost item tag, for when passengers leave an item on the bus. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2024. Newsproof print. 

A photograph of Todd Eddy’s hands on the steering wheel as he drives the bus through downtown Minneapolis. Eddy drives the 6, 7, A Line, among other routes. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2022. Newsproof print.

A superimposed photograph of Kira Ross as she worked on a bus. Grant shared that she was interested in capturing the movement of the labor Ross and other workers carry out while on the job. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2022. Newsproof print. 

Along with the original photographs, Grant and Skemp included images found in the archives of the Hennepin History Museum archives. The above scan depicts an undated photograph of a Minneapolis road with the streetcar tracks visible. The Twin Cities streetcar was disbanded in 1954. During the exhibition’s panel and discussion, many attendees lamented the decision to take down the street car and how the current city buses recreate the lines from the old streetcar system. 

Hennepin History Museum archives. Original photograph not dated. Gelatin Silver print.

A photograph of Theodore Wirth Regional Park in Minneapolis, where bus operators of the 7 route can take a short break. Grant shared that she was interested in the Twin Cities urban and natural landscapes within the boundaries of the city and capturing the experience of bus drivers who drive through these landscapes all within one route. 

Leslie Grant and Jeffrey Skemp. 2022. Inkjet print. 

Isabela is the Senior Associate Editor for Workday Magazine.