LONDON — The London Underground might seem like the furthest thing imaginable from a 16th-century Renaissance painting, but that just depends on how you look at it.

London-based photographer Matt Crabtree is turning photos of strangers on the tube into works of art inspired by Renaissance paintings.

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"The idea kind of made itself," Crabtree told Mashable by email. "I was sitting amongst the million or so other commuters on a mundane tube journey into work, when I looked up and saw this lady in a velvet hood, in a classically timeless pose. She was in a beautiful world of her own, one far away from the noise of it all. A 16th-century Flemish painting came to mind, and that's it."

Crabtree said that after he first saw the similarity between his fellow commuters and figures in classical art, he couldn't see anything else.

"Strangely, the London tube is quite a perfect setting for a 16th-century Renaissance portrait," he said. "People are usually sitting with their hand folded on their knee, or reading their iPhone like a treasured book of prayers. They're lit from above by the tube's harsh carriage lighting... against the black background of the tunnel [or] looking up to avoid eye contact or reading a dull advert for some food supplement or insurance company above my head. This puts them in that perfect pose. Chin up, proud, wistful."

Crabtree makes each photo when the moment and composition feel right. Then he posts them quickly.

"I do a basic retouch and vignette using Snapseed, then post from the tube's Wi-Fi," he explained. "I make it a rule to send each portrait from the tube journey."

The tube portraits have received quite a bit of media attention, and Crabtree plans to collect them into a book and display them in an exhibition.

"I'm genuinely surprised [at] the amount of coverage it's got," he said. "Something I did simply to pass some time on a boring commute has turned into something quite special."

Perhaps the portraits resonate precisely because so many people can relate to that "boring commute" and the glimpses of humanity within it.

"There are so many genuine moments of beauty out there," Crabtree said. "We all just need to look up from our phones more."

You can see more of Crabtree's work on his website.

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