Let These Slow Subway GIFs Ease You Through Old NYC

Slow Television is a wonderful creation that was popularized by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in the aughts, and therefore sometimes referred to as Norwegian Slow Television. The genre aims for a sort of Zen viewing experience, by offering essentially hours and hours of footage documenting an ordinary event via a single shot. For example, NRK kicked off their foray into slow TV with a broadcast of a 7-hour train ride, all shot from one point-of-view, unedited.

Some look to Andy Warhol as the creator of slow TV, with the release of his 1963 film Sleep (literally over 5 hours of footage showing poet John Giorno sleeping). But that was not exactly the same thing—and it was far less soothing than traveling through a European countryside via a camera mounted to the front of a train car. And it was far less hygge than the Yule log, another slow TV hit.

But before slow TV had a name, others were already filming ordinary events from one point-of-view—particularly on trains (hands down the breakout star of slow television). Below, we have created Slow GIFs from some early footage taken on subway cars. A calming dose of slow TV in a much shorter package, to accommodate shorter contemporary attention spans. These were all shot in NYC's subway system, from 1905 through the 1980s—let's call them New York Slow GIFs.

And finally, taken from 1980s footage from the great Steven Siegel, a much faster, fear-fueled foray into Slow GIFs. Wait for it...